Research Solves 150-Year Mystery of Extinct Giant Crane's Identity
Scientists have used DNA analysis to determine that the extinct giant crane 'Grus primigenia' was not a separate species, but rather a larger version of the modern European common crane. The size difference was likely due to sexual dimorphism rather than evolutionary divergence.
Why it matters
This discovery corrects a 150-year-old scientific misunderstanding and demonstrates the power of modern genetic analysis in refining our understanding of evolutionary history.
Scientists at Bournemouth University (BU) have solved a 150-year-old mystery into the identity of an extinct giant crane that lived in Europe over 20,000 years ago.
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.
However, a new study led by Dr John Stewart, Professor of Evolutionary Palaeoecology at BU and leader of the research team revealed that the bones are in fact larger versions of the current common crane we see in Europe today and not from a separate, extinct species of crane.
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