The results of a search for wool mammoth family tree are astounding. We found that the beasts we most closely associated with came from not from linear strains but from a relatively complex web of genetic diversity.
Studies examining 34 mitochondrial genomes over a million years in specimens offer a glimpse into the evolution of mammoths. Mitochondrial DNA is the circular strand found in the power plant of each cell. It is useful for paleontologists as it helps researchers follow maternal lineages and resists failure, unlike fewer robust genetic material.
Researchers have studied mammoth mitochondrial DNA for 1.3 million years ago, based on the relatively recent mammoth genetic material, about 125,000 years ago. studyIt is published in Molecular Biology and Evolutionexplains the history of mammoth evolution over a million years.
Genetic diversity in wool mammoths
“Our analysis offers an unprecedented glimpse into how key deep demographic events have over time shaped mammoth genetic diversity.” press release.
Biodiversity may have evolved over the past 2.5 million years, but DNA samples over 100,000 years have been well preserved enough to study. This corresponds to one short scene for scientists to watch from a long-term television series.
Retrieving DNA from mammoths for millions of years, analyzing it, and then comparing it to 200 previously published mammoth genomes, essentially researchers can get a sample of pretty good scenes throughout their run.
read more: Freeze-dried wool mammoths produce 52,000-year-old chromosomes
Major demographic shifts
The analysis showed that genetic changes in the mammoth genome were in good agreement with major demographic changes occurring during the early and mid-Pleistocene. This study supports the ancient Siberian origins of the major mammoth lineage. This article also explains how changes in the mammoth population in different regions of the world have led to different mammoth genome subtypes.
For example, the team has identified North America’s oldest known mammoth DNA, dating back 200,000 years from specimens found in the Yukon region of Canada. And the study confirms previous studies showing that mammoths from around a million years ago are significantly different from the latest versions of creatures.
read more: The wool mammoths roamed around, and the man was heading backwards.
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Before joining Discove Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent more than 20 years as a science journalist specializing in US life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to science magazines. His works have appeared in publications such as Science News, Science, Nature, and Science American.
