DNA bound to mineral particles in ancient sediment reveals that north Greenland once had spruce forests populated by hares, reindeer and even mastodons
DNA from 2 million years ago recovered from sediments in Greenland is the oldest preserved DNA found to date, blowing past“The age of the DNA is twice as old approximately compared to what has been retrieved previously,” saysThe DNA comes from a host of different organisms, enabling Willerslev and his colleagues to reconstruct the ecosystem that existed in northern Greenland 2 million years ago, at a time when the climate was warmer than it is today.
Today, the area is Arctic desert and has few organisms, but back then it was a forest inhabited by hares, reindeer and perhaps even mastodons, elephant-like animals that once lived in North America.The find suggests that it will be possible to uncover DNA from much more ancient time periods than previously suspected. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that in the north [the Arctic], we could go twice as far back in time,” says Willerslev.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lost world in northern Greenland conjured from DNA in ancient soilUsing the oldest DNA ever recovered, scientists have reconstructed a rich ancient ecosystem in Greenland’s northern tip.
Read more »
‘Mind-Blowing’ 2-Million-Year-Old DNA Reveals Ancient Ecosystem in GreenlandThe genetic material is a million years older than the previous record-holder.
Read more »
2-million-year-old DNA reveals a lost Arctic worldThe oldest DNA ever analyzed shows that reindeer and mastodons once wandered a nearly unrecognizable Greenland.
Read more »
World's oldest DNA reveals secrets of lost Arctic ecosystem from 2 million years agoResearchers have unearthed tiny fragments of DNA in the Arctic that were left by plants, microbes and animals that lived in a previously unknown ecosystem in Greenland.
Read more »
Oldest DNA on record - 2 million years - reveals Greenland's lost worldScientists have identified DNA from animals, plants and microbes dating to about 2 million years ago - the oldest on record by far - from sediment at Greenland's northernmost point dug up around the mouth of an Arctic Ocean fjord, revealing an amazing lost world at this remote frontier.
Read more »