Scientists extracted and analyzed 34 new mammoths (Mamutus spp. ) mitochondrial genomes containing two early Pleistocene and nine mid Pleistocene giant specimens in Siberia and North America. They identified the oldest known mammoth DNA in North America from 200,000-year-old specimens found on the Old Crow River in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The results support previous research and show that mammoths from around 1 million years ago do not resemble the later mammoths.
Reconstruction of the life of the grassland mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii). Image credit: Beth Zaiken/Center for Palaeogenetics.
Ancient DNA was recovered from specimens dated in the early Pleistocene (2.6 million to 780,000 years ago), and the stages in the Middle Pleistocene (780,000 to 126,000 years ago) could allow for the direct study of deep temporal evolutionary events that are key to understanding species formation.
Unfortunately, access to such deep-time DNA is limited, and so far only a handful of studies have been able to obtain either genome-wide data or the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) from deep specimens.
“Our analysis offers an unprecedented glimpse into how major deep-time demographic events have shaped mammoth genetic diversity over time.”
By analyzing 34 new mammothmite genomes along with more than 200 previously published mammothmite genomes, the researchers found that diversification events across the mammoth lineage appeared to be consistent with well-explained demographic changes during the early and mid-Pleistocene.
Their findings support the ancient Siberian origins of the major mammoth lineage and reveal how changes in individual dynamics contributed to the expansion and contraction of different genetic clades.
“The constant cost of sequencing technology has left mitogenomes somewhat forgotten. However, our study shows that they are more abundant than nuclear DNA and are therefore important for evolutionary biology.
The current research not only advances understanding of mammoth evolution, but also contributes to a wider field of ancient DNA research.
Scientists have developed and applied an improved molecular clock dating framework and improved methods of estimating sample age beyond radiocarbon dating limits using genetic data.
This methodological advancement provides a powerful tool for future research into extinct and endangered species.
Professor Love Darren, a researcher at Stockholm University, said:
“We are extremely excited to see genetic data from more mammoth specimens sampled over the past million years.
Team’s result Published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
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J. Camilo Chacón-Duque et al. 2025. The evolution of the mammoth genome for a million years. Molecular Biology and Evolution 42(4): MSAF065; doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaf065
Source: www.sci.news
