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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Phenolic metabolites from 5,000-year-old coprolites of Myotragus balearicus, an extinct insular bovid

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Abstract To date, the identification of polyphenols in the archaeological and palaeontological record has been limited. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the presence of flavonoid and phenolic metabolites from non-mineralised coprolites belonging to a non-human mammal species. Myotragus balearicus is the last species of a bovid lineage that became extinct during the Holocene in the western Mediterranean basin. In this work, we characterize the phenolic metabolites of M. balearicus coprolites for the first time. The chemical analysis of coprolites revealed the presence of flavonoids, such as flavones and flavonols. Moreover, the detection of conjugates of hydroxyphenylvaleric, hydroxyphenylpropionic and hydroxyphenylacetic acids, among other catabolites of flavan-3-ols, suggested the presence of the latter structures in plants of the Myotragus diet. The lack of other flavonoids such as isoflavones, flavanones, dihydroflavonols, anthocyanidins and chalcones (or its specific metabolite biomarkers) may suggest a narrow food web in Myotragus, although it may also indicate a complete microbial metabolism during the gut passage or even post-depositional microbial alterations or diagenetic transformations. Based on the phenolic metabolites identified by mass spectrometry, the extinct Myotragus did not possess a flavonoid metabolism distinct from that reported in extant mammals, despite the drastic changes suffered under insularity conditions that involved its life history.