Mammoth’s DNA revealed by icy remains
IAN SAMPLE
Scientists have unravelled the genetic makeup of the woolly mammoth by analysing hairs plucked from carcasses recovered from the Siberian permafrost.
The feat was hailed as a milestone in genetic science recently and represents the first time an extinct animal has had its genome sequenced.
The first draft of the genetic code shows mammoths split into two groups about two million years ago. One group became extinct about 45,000 years ago, while the other is thought to have lived on to as recently as 10,000 years ago.
“It has now become feasible to sequence a complete extinct animal, which is quite amazing,” said Stephan Schuster, who led the research at Penn State University.
Scientists pieced together 3.3bn pairs of letters that make up about 70 per cent of the animal’s genetic code, the journal Nature reported.
Schuster said genetic diversity was very low in the two groups of mammoths. That may explain why the animals suddenly became extinct after enduring successive ice ages.
The changing climate could have depleted their populations, leaving them vulnerable to disease and hunting when humans arrived in their regions about 23,000 years ago.
Analysis of the mammoth genome reveals it differs from the African elephant by only 0.6 per cent. That is about half the difference between humans and chimpanzees, which split from a common ancestor at around the same time.
The greater genetic gulf between humans and chimps suggests primates have evolved faster, probably because apes have historically been preyed on more than mammoths. — Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008.
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