A team of Swedish scientists has successfully extracted and reconstructed the world’s oldest DNA from the tooth of a Siberian mammoth, which roamed the Earth over a million years ago. Also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, the all-important molecule which contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living things. This provides new insights into the evolution of the ancient Ice Age giants. The DNA samples seemed to indicate a relation to both the Columbian mammoth, which roamed the temperate regions of Southern and Central North America around half a million to 11,000 years ago, and the woolly mammoth, which preferred the cold Arctic.
After further genetic analysis and hours of discussion, the researchers realised they had stumbled upon a new lineage of steppe mammoths, one that most likely explained the origin of the Columbian mammoth. Identifying the new species helps bridge the gap between the Siberian steppe mammoths, which lived in the cold tundra, and the much larger Columbian mammoths that preferred temperate weather.