Late-surviving megafauna exposed by ancient DNA in frozen soil
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - 10:14
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Extinct woolly mammoths and ancient American horses may have been grazing the North American steppe for several thousand years longer than previously thought. After plucking ancient DNA from frozen soil in central Alaska, a team of researchers used cutting-edge techniques to uncover "genetic fossils" of both species locked in permafrost samples dated to between 7,600 and 10,500 calendar years. Link: http://www.amnh.org