Woolly rhino genome from ancient wolf stomach

We can assess population dynamics prior to extinction with temporarily spaced high-coverage ancient genomes. However, finding suitable ancient remains for recovering high-coverage genomes is challenging. Here, we sequenced a high-coverage genome from muscle tissue of a 14,300 year old woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) found inside a permafrost-preserved wolf's stomach. Woolly rhinoceros were cold-adapted herbivores that went extinct ~14,000 years ago. We compared genome-wide diversity, inbreeding, genetic load, and population size changes in three Late Pleistocene Siberian woolly rhinoceros. We found no evidence of population size decline, nor any genomic erosion, shortly prior to the species' demise. Given moderate amounts of distant inbreeding, we infer a stable population size only a few centuries before extinction. Thus, the woolly rhinoceros' extinction likely happened rapidly, during the Bølling–Allerød interstadial. This study demonstrates the ability to recover high quality DNA from unlikely sources to elucidate extinct species' evolutionary history