Testosterone histories from tusks reveal woolly mammoth musth episodes

Michael D. Cherney (), Daniel C. Fisher, Richard J. Auchus, Adam N. Rountrey, Perrin Selcer, Ethan A. Shirley, Scott G. Beld, Bernard Buigues, Dick Mol, Gennady G. Boeskorov, Sergey L. Vartanyan and Alexei N. Tikhonov
Additional contact information
Michael D. Cherney: University of Michigan
Daniel C. Fisher: University of Michigan
Richard J. Auchus: University of Michigan
Adam N. Rountrey: University of Michigan
Perrin Selcer: University of Michigan
Ethan A. Shirley: University of Michigan
Scott G. Beld: University of Michigan
Bernard Buigues: Mammuthus
Dick Mol: Natural History Museum
Gennady G. Boeskorov: Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Sergey L. Vartanyan: North-east Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute, Far-East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Alexei N. Tikhonov: Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Nature, 2023, vol. 617, issue 7961, 533-539

Abstract: Abstract Hormones in biological media reveal endocrine activity related to development, reproduction, disease and stress on different timescales1. Serum provides immediate circulating concentrations2, whereas various tissues record steroid hormones accumulated over time3,4. Hormones have been studied in keratin, bones and teeth in modern5–8 and ancient contexts9–12; however, the biological significance of such records is subject to ongoing debate10,13–16, and the utility of tooth-associated hormones has not previously been demonstrated. Here we use liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry paired with fine-scale serial sampling to measure steroid hormone concentrations in modern and fossil tusk dentin. An adult male African elephant (Loxodonta africana) tusk shows periodic increases in testosterone that reveal episodes of musth17–19, an annually recurring period of behavioural and physiological changes that enhance mating success20–23. Parallel assessments of a male woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) tusk show that mammoths also experienced musth. These results set the stage for wide-ranging studies using steroids preserved in dentin to investigate development, reproduction and stress in modern and extinct mammals. Because dentin grows by apposition, resists degradation, and often contains growth lines, teeth have advantages over other tissues that are used as records of endocrine data. Given the low mass of dentin powder required for analytical precision, we anticipate dentin-hormone studies to extend to smaller animals. Thus, in addition to broad applications in zoology and palaeontology, tooth hormone records could support medical, forensic, veterinary and archaeological studies.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06020-9

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