“I’m Very Excited That Now We Have Genetic Data”: Scientists Made A Discovery In Frozen Mammoth DNA – The Daily Galaxy
2025-04-30T18:00:00Z
Scientists have decoded 1.3-million-year-old mammoth DNA. Their discovery could help rescue today’s endangered species.
A genomic study has revealed previously unknown genetic diversity among ancient mammoth lineages. By analyzing DNA samples up to 1.3 million years old, researchers have shed new light on how ancient demographic shifts influenced the genetic landscape of these iconic Ice Age giants.
A Million Years of Mammoth Evolution Uncovered
Scientists extracted and sequenced 34 new mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from mammoth specimens, including 11 from the Early and Middle Pleistocene periods.
These specimens span from 1.3 million to 125,000 years ago, greatly expanding the available ancient DNA dataset beyond the traditional 100,000-year preservation barrier.
“Our analyses provide an unprecedented glimpse into how major deep-time demographic events might have shaped the genetic diversity of mammoths through time,” said Dr. J. Camilo Chacón-Duque, researcher at Stockholm University and the Centre for Palaeogenetics.
Until now, the study of biodiversity over the last 2.5 million years has been hampered by the scarcity of ancient genetic data.
Siberian Roots And Lineage Shifts
By combining their 34 newly sequenced mitogenomes with over 200 previously published ones, the team confirmed an ancient Siberian origin for major mammoth lineages.
They observed that diversification events aligned closely with documented demographic changes during the Early and Middle Pleistocene epochs.
“With the ever-decreasing costs of sequencing technologies, mitogenomes have been somewhat forgotten. However, our study shows that they remain crucial for evolutionary biology since they are more abundant than nuclear DNA,” commented Dr. Jessica A. Thomas Thorpe, researcher at the Wellcome Sanger Genome Institute and co-first author of the study.
Population dynamics, expansions, and contractions across genetic clades were closely linked to climatic shifts and habitat transformations during the Ice Age.
Credit: Hans Wildschut
Pushing The Boundaries Of Ancient DNA Research
The researchers also refined methodologies for ancient DNA studies. They developed an enhanced molecular clock dating framework, allowing more accurate age estimation for specimens beyond the reach of traditional radiocarbon dating.
“I’m very excited that now we have genetic data from many more mammoth specimens sampled across the last million years, which helps us understand how mammoth diversity has changed through time,” explained Professor Love Dalén of Stockholm University and the Centre for Paleogenetics.
One remarkable discovery was the identification of the oldest known mammoth DNA found in North America — from a specimen retrieved in the Old Crow River area of the Yukon Territory, dating back over 200,000 years.
Love Dalén. Credit: Gleb Danilov
Ancient Mammoth DNA Offers New Tools For Species Preservation
By demonstrating the viability of recovering DNA from specimens more than a million years old, the study opens new possibilities for researching other extinct or endangered species.
It suggests that deep-time genetic studies can provide unparalleled insights into how species responded to past environmental changes, informing conservation strategies today.
The research also corroborates earlier findings (such as those by van der Valk et al., 2021) that ancient mammoths from around a million years ago showed notable genetic differences compared to their more recent descendants.
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