150-year-old mystery about the identity of an 'extinct' giant crane solved
Scientists have determined that bone fragments previously thought to belong to an extinct giant crane species are actually from larger, modern common cranes. DNA analysis revealed that the perceived size difference was likely due to sexual dimorphism rather than a separate species.
Why it matters
Corrects a 150-year-old biological classification error, demonstrating the power of modern genetic analysis in evolutionary research.
edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add to Preferred Sources Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Scientists at Bournemouth University (BU) have solved a 150-year-old mystery about the identity of an extinct giant crane that lived in Europe over 20,000 years ago. The work is published in the journal Royal Society Open Science .
The extinct, giant, primeval crane was named Grus primigenia in the 19th century by French biologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards from bone fragments found in caves in the south of France. These were dated to the end of the last ice age. Since the discovery, it has been widely believed that these bones were from an extinct species of giant crane.
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