Thread by @CpgSthlm, This mammoth tooth is 1.2 million years old.We have recovered DNA from [...]

Centre for Palaeogenetics

CpgSthlm

This mammoth tooth is 1.2 million years old.

We have recovered DNA from it.

This is the oldest DNA ever sequenced.

The results are published today in Nature:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03224-9

[THREAD]

This mammoth tooth is 1.2 million years old.We have recovered DNA from it. This is the oldest DNA ever sequenced.The results are published today in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03224-9[THREAD]

We analyzed genomes from mammoths that lived 1.2 - 0.7 million years ago (Ma), and discovered a previously unknown genetic lineage of mammoth that diverged from from the woolly mammoth lineage more than 2 Ma. We call this new lineage the “Krestovka mammoth”.

The results also suggest that the Columbian mammoth, the iconic North American mammoth, is a hybrid species that arose ca 420,000 years ago, with roughly half of its genome coming from the Krestovka mammoth and the other half from the woolly mammoth.

In addition, by comparing the genomes of several woolly mammoths with a 1.1 Ma old genome from their direct ancestor, a steppe mammoth, we can investigate when genetic adaptations to the Arctic environment, such as woolly fur, arose.

To our surprise, we found that the vast majority of cold adaptations, which we had thought were unique for the woolly mammoth, were present also in its ancestor. Below is a new reconstruction by the excellent @BZaiken of what we now think this steppe mammoth looked like.

This work has been a great international collaboration, involving paleontologists Adrian Lister, Pavel Nikolskiy, as well as multiple geneticists, such as @bonesandbugs, @pontus_skoglund, @PalaeoPete and several others.

Read the full paper Open Access:
https://rdcu.be/cfotW

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