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The Lesser Rhea (Rhea pennata), a large flightless bird native to South America, held historical significance as a vital resource for Patagonian hunter–gatherer societies. Despite the species' cultural and ecological importance, the historical population dynamics of R. pennata remain poorly understood. Although present in the archaeological record, its abundance is not consistently documented and the reasons remain unclear. This study investigates the late Holocene population trends of R. pennata using ancient DNA analysis. By analyzing complete mitochondrial genome sequences from dated archaeological specimens, we reveal a significant population increase from 700 to 500 years Before Present (BP), followed by a period of relative stability from 500 to 300 years BP. Subsequently, a subtle decline in population size is observed, coinciding with the arrival of European settlers; however, due to considerable uncertainty in population estimates, definitive conclusions regarding this decline are challenging to make. Historical records indicate heightened rhea hunting during this period, coterminous with a decrease in the abundance of rhea eggshell fragments. It is suggested that climatic factors may have influenced these population dynamics, particularly favoring rhea population growth from 700 to 500 years BP. This study contributes to our understanding of the historical ecology and human‐rhea interactions in Patagonia, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in reconstructing past population dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tribe Hyoscyameae (Solanaceae) is restricted to Eurasia and includes the genera Archihyoscyamus, Anisodus, Atropa, Atropanthe, Hyoscyamus, Physochlaina, Przewalskia and Scopolia. Even though the monophyly of Hyoscyameae is strongly supported, the relationships of the taxa within the tribe remain unclear. Chloroplast markers have been widely used to elucidate plant relationships at low taxonomic levels. Identification of variable chloroplast intergenic regions has been developed based on comparative genomics of chloroplast genomes, but these regions have a narrow phylogenetic utility. In this study, we present the chloroplast genome sequence of Hyoscyamus niger and make comparisons to other solanaceous plastid genomes in terms of gene order, gene and intron content, editing sites, origins of replication, repeats, and hypothetical open reading frames. We developed and sequenced three variable plastid markers from eight species to elucidate relationships within the tribe Hyoscyameae. The presence of a horizontally transferred intron in the mitochondrial cox1 gene of some species of the tribe is considered here a likely synapomorphy uniting five genera of the Hyoscyameae. Alternatively, the cox1 intron could be a homoplasious character acquired twice within the tribe. A homoplasious inversion in the intergenic plastid spacer trnC-psbM was recognized as a source of bias and removed from the data set used in the phylogenetic analyses. Almost 12 kb of plastid sequence data were not sufficient to completely resolve relationships among genera of Hyoscyameae but some clades were identified. Two alternative hypotheses of the evolution of the genera within the tribe are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]