Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce the publication of a paper that may be of interest to some of you, but in a journal that might be off your radar, hence the heads-up: Sinding MHS, Gilbert MTP, Grønnow B, Gulløv HC, Toft PA, Foote AD (2012) Non-destructive DNA extraction from archaeological artifacts made from whale baleen. Journal of Archaeological Science, 39: 3750-3753. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440312002774 Abstract Here we demonstrate the successful extraction and amplification of target species DNA from artefactsmade of whale baleen collected from excavations of past palaeo-Eskimo and Inuit cultures in Greenland.DNA was successfully extracted and amplified from a single baleen bristle of 1.5 cm length dated basedon archaeological context to the period of the Saqqaq culture, more than 4000 years ago and followingdecades of storage at room temperature at the National Museum. The results reveal ancient baleen inarchaeological material as a potential source of DNA that can be used for population genetic studies. Weconclude that genetic investigation of historical baleen collections can contribute to our knowledge ofthe prehistoric population genetics of baleen whales, for example by quantifying the impact of modernwhaling on the genetic diversity of bowhead whales. Please contact me if you are unable to access the article online. Best regards, Mikkel Holger Strander Sinding, mhssinding@gmail.com Centre for GeoGenetics The Natural History Museum of Denmark Øster Voldgade 5 - 7 1350 Copenhagen K