Two-million-year-old DNA, the world's oldest, reveals that mastodons once roamed forests in Greenland’s far northern reaches
The oldest DNA ever recovered has revealed a remarkable two-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland, including the presence of an unlikely explorer: the mastodon.
“It’s painting a picture of everything that was present in this ecosystem, and that is really incredible,” says Drew Christ, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Environment, who studies the history of Earth’s polar regions but was not involved in the research. Finally, a few years ago, the researchers finally succeeded at extracting heavily damaged DNA. They were then able to compare the DNA fragments with the genomes of modern species. Similarities in sequences revealed that some of the species that left behind the DNA were among the ancestors of modern species.
The groups of organisms living in Greenland two million years ago were also able to survive and produce descendants, such as modern caribou, that now live in much colder Arctic conditions. Studying the genetic sequences of these ancient animals could reveal adaptations that could help Arctic species survive today’s human-caused climate change, Willerslev says.
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