Species Identification of Shark Vertebrae Using Collagen Type 1: Toward Ichthyoarchaeological Identification

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Sharks are apex predators, and their presence in the world’s waters serves as an indicator of the health of marine ecosystems. The species-specific identification of sharks in archaeological materials is essential for reconstructing ancient exploited ecosystems and improving current marine baselines to support conservation efforts as these fish are severely threatened due to overexploitation and habitat destruction. Vertebrae are one of the most common types of shark remains in ichthyoarchaeological assemblages. Identifying their taxonomy on the basis of morphological characteristics is challenging due to the high species diversity and the wide variety of morphologies within the vertebral column. In this study, we present the initial results of the construction of a collagen reference database for sharks to facilitate paleoproteomic identifications of ichthyoarchaeological remains. Our results consist of collagen type 1 extracts from vertebrae of five shark species, that were trypsin-digested and analyzed using LC MS/MS and MALDI-TOF to visualize peptide mass fingerprints and amino acid variations in collagen peptides. This presentation showcases the data generated so far and proposes a proteomic approach for taxonomic identifications.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Past Human-Shark Interactions   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39419.0