A strong start: The first four months of Re-Connect

The first four months flew by quickly, and we’re excited to share what we’ve been

working on! Between September and December 2025, the Re-Connect team made steady progress in shaping the project’s working methodology and gathering the first datasets.

What we have done until now:

1. Development of the Working Methodology

We established a standardized protocol for fossil documentation and sampling, starting from non-invasive approaches (inventory, photography, taphonomy) and progressing to invasive sampling for stable isotopes, radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA. The workflow included: high-resolution imaging, specimen inventory, Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI), dental wear analysis, biocronology, geometric morphometrics and osteometric measurements.

2. Training and Knowledge Exchange

In November, the RE-CONNECT team met in Bucharest for the first bilateral working session. Researchers and PhD students from Moldova worked alongside the Romanian team to learn the project methodology and conduct initial osteometric measurements on cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) mandibles.

3. Sample Collection and Database Development

We began building a centralized database that integrates newly documented material from the paleontological collections of ISER and IZUSM, together with previously published data. Mandibles, teeth, and associated fauna from cave sites such as Trinca I, Duruitoarea Veche, Butești, Saharna, and Buzdujeni were inventoried and prepared for analysis.

4. Analyses Performed

• Osteometry: more than 100 mandibles were measured following a standardized protocol.

  
  

• Dental microwear: molds were taken from 96 individuals, representing the largest cave bear population studied so far in Moldova; further analysis will be completed in collaboration with IPHES (Spain).

  
  

• Stable isotopes: over 100 bone samples were submitted to Terra Analitic for δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N analysis to reconstruct paleodiet.

  
  

• Radiocarbon dating: 21 samples were sent to Vilnius for AMS dating, following strict protocols to ensure collagen quality and analytical accuracy.

The first stage of RE-CONNECT successfully established the methodological foundation of the project, consolidated the sample database, documented extensive fossil material and initiated key laboratory analyses. The upcoming phases will integrate these datasets to produce a clearer picture of the ecological dynamics and extinction processes of large mammals in the region.

We’re just getting started, and the next steps promise even more insights as we bring all these datasets together.

And if you’re curious to dive deeper, you can download our full report here.

See you next year, stay tuned!

Team Re-Connect