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Mammoths are cousins of elephants, one of the largest mammals that dominated the ice age landscape. The remains of the mammoths mentioned above were frozen, so the ancient genetic material was preserved.
The remains of mammoths were discovered in the early 1970s. However, new scientific methods were needed to extract their DNA. The oldest of the three mammoths found near the Krestovka River lived about 1.2 million years ago.
years.
The age of the other found near the Adyčia River is approximately one to 1.2 million. years. The third, found in the vicinity of the Great Chukotcha River, lived about 700,000 years ago. years.
DNA is a self-replicating material that stores the genetic information of living organisms, a kind of life plan.
Most of the information on prehistoric creatures comes from the study of skeletal fossils, but the information they provide may still be limited, especially when it comes to genetic traits and relationships.
Ancient DNA can help fill these gaps, but it is rapidly degrading. New advanced research methods allow scientists to extract increasingly ancient DNA. This can reveal information about some older species. Still, information on many others, even 66 million ago. dinosaurs that lived for years would remain inaccessible.
Scientists have gained insights into mammoth evolution and migration by comparing the DNA of these mammoths with those that lived later. The last mammoths became extinct about four thousand years ago. The oldest of the three specimens, the Krestovka mammoth, belonged to a genetic family previously unknown, more than two million years ago. years separated from the clan from which the famous hairy mammoth evolved.
DNA analysis showed that genetic variants associated with resistance to harsh climatic conditions, characterized by lush fur, thermoregulation, fat accumulation, cold tolerance and the rhythm of the diurnal cycle, survived long before the appearance of mammoths. furry.
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