Tag Archives: mammoth

Ancient Mammoth Bone Dwelling Uncovered in Ukraine: 18,000-Year-Old Circular Structure

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The Upper Paleolithic site of Mezilich in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine, features four remarkable mammoth bone structures, each ranging from 12 to 24 m2. These extensive constructions were meticulously crafted using hundreds of mammoth bones and tusks. Recent analyses of small mammal remains excavated directly from these archaeological formations indicate that one of these structures was in use for nearly 429 years, underscoring its role as a potential dwelling.

MBS 4 being excavated at the Upper Paleolithic site of Mezilich, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. Image credit: Chu et al., doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.20112.1.

“Open-air Upper Paleolithic sites in east-central Europe, such as Mezilich, offer invaluable insights into human activities and biogeography during the Late Holistic Age—a period marked by significant environmental shifts,” stated Wei Chu, an archaeologist from Leiden University, and collaborators.

“These sites often exhibit deep loess sediment layers rich in lithic tools, faunal remains, and bone assemblages, serving as crucial environmental proxies for illuminating contemporary ecological conditions.”

“Notably, some of these locations have been discovered in direct association with mammoth bone deposits, representing some of the earliest known constructions showcasing both spatial and seasonal organization.”

“While many of these structures were historically viewed as domestic remnants,” they elaborated, “ongoing excavations have reignited debates about their primary functions—whether as dwellings or perhaps as ritualistic tombs, food storage areas, burial sites, religious landmarks, or primitive monuments.”

“Mezilich, situated in the mid reaches of the Dnieper River, is pivotal to this discourse due to its extraordinary conservation state, featuring four mammoth bone structures (MBS 1-4) that span heights of 12 to 24 m2 in diameter.

“These structures are complemented by surrounding features like artifact-filled pits, hunting tools, ivory, bone ornaments, and segmented areas rich in slaughtered animal remains and workshops with dense cultural deposits, each aligned around mammoth bone structures, revealing economic settlement units.”

In their latest study, the researchers scrutinized the dating and composition of MBS 4—the only Mezilich structure containing artifacts that can be directly dated within the archaeological layer.

By analyzing small mammal remains rather than mammoth bones, they established a more accurate age for MBS 4, estimated to be between approximately 18,248 and 17,764 years old.

Crucially, the findings indicate that this structure was actively occupied for 429 years.

These results suggest that Mezilich was a stable, long-term settlement rather than a transient camp used intermittently.

The structure likely served as a residence for multiple generations, enduring and being reused throughout the centuries.

“MBS 4 corresponds with the harshest conditions of the last Ice Age,” the researchers noted.

“Interestingly, the period of occupation appears brief—potentially comprising only a few visits over many centuries.”

“This implies that these mammoth bone shelters were practical solutions for survival, rather than established permanent settlements.”

“Why is this significant? Beyond the remarkable ingenuity of utilizing mammoth bones for construction, these findings alter our perspective on human resilience and adaptability,” they remarked.

“They illustrate how communities thrived even in extreme environments, transforming large animal remains into protective architecture.”

“As dating techniques improve, sites like Mezilich continuously challenge our preconceived notions about prehistoric existence,” they concluded.

“These societies were dynamic, resource-abundant, and deeply interconnected with their environments, and their lessons are relevant even today.”

For further insights, refer to the team’s published paper in Open Research Europe.

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W. Chu et al. 2025. Revised radiocarbon chronology of bone structures and related features of mammoths from Mezilich, Ukraine. Open Res Europe 5:198; doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.20112.1

Source: www.sci.news

RNA Molecules Discovered in 39,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth Tissue

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Researchers have successfully extracted and sequenced ancient RNA from the tissues of 10 woolly mammoths preserved in permafrost. One of these specimens is estimated to be 39,000 years old, making it the oldest ancient RNA sequence recorded to date.

Marmol Sanchez et al. Ancient RNA sequences identified in late Pleistocene woolly mammoth tissue. Image credit: Marmol Sanchez et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.10.025.

Investigating prehistoric genes and their activation is crucial for understanding the biology and evolution of extinct species.

For years, scientists have been piecing together the mammoth genome and their evolutionary history through DNA analysis.

However, RNA, which indicates active genes, has remained elusive until now.

“With RNA, we can provide direct evidence of which genes are ‘turned on’ and gain insights into the final moments of mammoths that lived during the last Ice Age,” stated Dr. Emilio Marmol, a researcher at the Globe Institute.

“This kind of information cannot be obtained from DNA alone.”

In this study, Dr. Marmol and colleagues analyzed permafrost-preserved tissue from 10 late Pleistocene woolly mammoths discovered in northeastern Siberia, spanning from the central Indigirka region to the Oyogos Yar coast and the New Siberian Islands.

“We accessed exceptionally well-preserved mammoth tissue excavated from the Siberian permafrost, expecting it to contain RNA molecules that had remained frozen over millennia,” Marmol mentioned.

“We have pushed the limits of DNA recovery for over a million years,” said Professor Rav Dalen from Stockholm University and the Center for Paleogenetics.

“Now we aimed to determine if RNA sequencing could go further back than prior research.”

Researchers successfully identified tissue-specific gene expression patterns in the muscular remains of Yuka, a 39,000-year-old juvenile mammoth.

There are over 20,000 protein-coding genes in the mammoth genome, but not all are actively expressed.

The detected RNA molecules relate to proteins crucial for muscle contraction and metabolic regulation under stress.

Researchers also discovered several RNA molecules that regulate gene activity in mammoth muscle samples.

“We found non-protein-coding RNAs, such as microRNAs, which were among our most intriguing discoveries,” Dr. Mark Friedlander from Stockholm University’s Wenner-Gren Institute remarked.

“The muscle-specific microRNAs identified in mammoth tissue provide concrete evidence of gene regulation occurring in real-time in ancient eras. This is a groundbreaking achievement.”

The identified microRNAs also enabled the authors to confirm their findings originated from mammoths.

“We found a rare mutation in a specific microRNA, providing evidence that it is of mammoth origin,” noted Dr. Bastian Flom from the Norwegian Arctic University Museum.

“We also uncovered novel genes solely based on RNA evidence, a feat not attempted before at such ancient sites.”

“RNA molecules can endure for much longer than previously assumed.”

“Our findings demonstrate that RNA can survive much longer than previously thought,” Professor Dalen added.

“This allows us to not only explore which genes are ‘turned on’ in various extinct creatures but also to sequence RNA viruses like influenza and coronaviruses that are preserved in Ice Age remains.”

These findings were published in the Journal of Cell on November 14, 2025.

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Emilio Marmol-Sanchez et al. Ancient RNA expression profiles from extinct woolly mammoths. Cell published online on November 14, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.10.025

Source: www.sci.news

Earliest RNA Sample Discovered from a Woolly Mammoth

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The skin and muscles of Yuka’s left front leg are remarkably intact.

love darren

The oldest known RNA has been obtained from a woolly mammoth preserved in Siberian permafrost for close to 40,000 years.

This specimen, named Yuka and found in 2010, is regarded as the best-preserved woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) identified to date. Initially believed to be a young female that perished between the ages of 6 and 8—likely due to an attack by a cave lion.

Researchers have successfully extracted DNA from various woolly mammoths, including some over a million years old. Advances in genome reconstruction have sparked hopes of potentially reviving this species through genetic engineering.

DNA carries the genetic blueprint for protein production in animals. When a specific gene is activated, the code is transcribed into another molecule known as RNA, which is far less stable than DNA and typically breaks down within hours after death.

The oldest RNA previously retrieved was from a wolf preserved in Siberian permafrost over 14,000 years ago. Recently, love darren from Stockholm University has extracted nearly three times the RNA amount from Yuka’s leg than had been recorded before.

The research team employed techniques similar to those used to extract RNA from contemporary samples, fine-tuning them to target smaller and older molecules.

“Yuka is exceptionally well preserved,” remarks Darren. “The specimen likely experienced deep freezing and prolonged burial in permafrost, evidenced by the preservation of both muscle tissue and wool-like fur. This significantly boosts the chance of RNA preservation.”

However, Yuka’s temporary thawing during transport from northeastern Siberia to Yakutsk posed a challenge. “We assumed that any truly ancient RNA still present in the sample would have degraded into smaller fragments,” says Darren.

The team exercised extreme caution to prevent sample deterioration and avoid contamination. “We utilized liquid nitrogen for grinding, along with sterile materials, filtered air, protective clothing, and controlled lab conditions to eliminate modern contamination in sequencing data,” he explains.

RNA sequencing reveals which genes were active at the time of the animal’s death. In the RNA extracted from Yuka’s muscle and skin, the researchers identified signs of gene activity associated with muscle metabolism and cellular stress, aligning with the hypothesis of Yuka’s death resulting from a cave lion’s attack.

A surprising finding was that a combination of DNA and RNA analysis led the research team to conclude that Yuka was actually male. “I’ve anticipated something like this for a long time,” shares Darren. “Even though Yuka is remarkably preserved for being 40,000 years old, it’s not entirely intact, making it difficult to determine an organism’s morphological sex.”

Researchers also probed for RNA viruses such as influenza and coronaviruses but found no significant results. “Yet I believe we will see future studies on Ice Age RNA viruses,” Darren mentions. “For instance, we possess some Pleistocene bird carcasses that would be intriguing to investigate concerning avian influenza.”

Darren, a scientific advisor to Colossal Biosciences, the company claiming to have revived the dire wolf earlier this year, stated that the RNA sequences retrieved in this study do not directly contribute to the revival of the mammoth. However, the study may offer valuable insights into genes responsible for certain traits. “In the future, mammoth RNA profiles might uncover how specific traits, such as wool, were genetically regulated in these animals.”

Merlin Crossley, a researcher at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, noted that while acquiring such ancient RNA is an impressive feat, it doesn’t reveal much about mammoth ecology. “It’s akin to maneuvering a light airplane under the Sydney Harbor Bridge,” he explained. “It’s a remarkable technical accomplishment, but we gain little insight from it.”

Crossley believes that while older RNA samples may be unearthed in the future, the limits of RNA’s longevity are close at hand. Given the rarity of specimens like Yuka’s, he concludes that it’s unlikely that additional mammoths will yield significant information.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Ancient Mammoth Remains Yield the Oldest Host-Related Microbial DNA on Record

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In a recent study, researchers examined the ancient microbial DNA of 483 mammoths, preserved for over a million years. This included 440 newly analyzed unpublished samples from Steppe Mammoths dating back 1.1 million years. Through metagenome screening, contaminant filtering, damage pattern analysis, and phylogenetic inference, they identified 310 microorganisms linked to various mammoth tissues.

Ginet et al. Partial genome reconstruction of erysipelothrix, representing the oldest confirmed host-related microbial DNA from the oldest mammoth samples. Image credit: Ginet et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.08.003.

“Envision a mammoth tooth from a million years ago,” stated Dr. Benjamin Ginette, a postdoctoral researcher at Stockholm’s Paleogenetic Centre and the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

“Imagine if it still harbors traces of ancient microorganisms that existed alongside this mammoth?”

“Our findings push the boundaries of microbial DNA research beyond a million years, unlocking new avenues for understanding how host-associated microorganisms evolved in tandem with their hosts.”

The team discovered six microbial groups consistently linked to mammoth hosts, including relatives of Actinobacillus, Pasturella, Streptococcus, and erysipelothrix. Some of these microbes may have been pathogenic.

For instance, one Pasturella bacteria identified in this study is closely related to the pathogens responsible for a fatal outbreak among African elephants.

Given that African and Asian elephants are the closest living relatives of mammoths, these results raise concerns about whether mammoths could also be susceptible to similar infectious diseases.

Remarkably, scientists have reconstructed a partial genome of erysipelothrix from a Steppe Mammoth that lived 1.1 million years ago, marking the oldest known host-related microbial DNA ever recovered.

This advances our understanding of the interactions between ancient hosts and their microbiota.

“As microorganisms evolved rapidly, acquiring reliable DNA data spanning over a million years has felt like tracing a path that continually rewrites itself,” noted Dr. Tom van der Bark of the Paleobiological Centre and the Museum of Natural History in Sweden.

“Our discoveries illustrate that ancient artifacts can retain biological insights far beyond the host genome, offering a perspective on how microorganisms influenced Pleistocene ecosystem adaptation, disease, and extinction.”

Determining the exact impact of the identified microorganisms on mammoth health is challenging due to DNA degradation and limited comparative data, but this study provides an unparalleled view into the microbiota of extinct megafaunas.

The findings suggest that multiple microbial lines coexisted with mammoths for hundreds of thousands of years, spanning vast geographical areas and evolutionary timescales, from the extinction of woolly mammoths on Lengel Island over a million years ago to their decline around 4,000 years ago.

“This research opens a new chapter in understanding the biology of extinct species,” says Professor Love Darren, a researcher at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the Paleogenetic Centre at Stockholm University.

“Not only can researchers study the mammoth genome itself, but they can also begin to explore the microbial communities that cohabited with it.”

This study was published this week in the journal Cell.

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Benjamin Ginet et al. Ancient host-related microorganisms recovered from mammoths. Cell published online on September 2, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.08.003

Source: www.sci.news

The Ancient Mammoth Task Boomerang is Twice as Old as Previously Believed

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Ancient artifacts crafted from mammoth tusks are the earliest recognized boomerangs

Talamo et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0

The earliest known boomerang could be over 22,000 years older than previously believed, indicating it was crafted during a time when early humans exhibited a rise in artistic expression.

In 1985, archaeologists discovered a 72-centimeter ivory boomerang buried beneath six layers of sediment within the Obwazwa Cave in Poland. Further analysis of sediment revealed bone beads from Homo sapiens, made from nearby thumb bones, antlers, fox teeth, and pendants. In the 1990s, radiocarbon dating estimated the thumbs to be 31,000 years old, while surprisingly, the boomerang dated only to 18,000 years ago—thousands of years younger than the associated crafts.

Sarataramo at the University of Bologna suspects contamination. “Even minor amounts of modern carbon from adhesives and maintenance can skew radiocarbon dates by tens of thousands of years,” she explains. The analysis of carbon-nitrogen ratios in the thumbs indicated collagen changes, suggesting that the samples were not suitable for reliable radiocarbon dating.

Redoing the dating on the contaminated boomerang would have wasted resources and unnecessarily harmed significant artifacts, according to Taramo. Instead, she and her team re-dated the human thumb bones and 13 nearby animal bones, using statistical modeling to reconstruct the timeline. Their findings indicated that the entire sediment layer—along with the boomerangs and thumb bones—dated to approximately 39,000 to 42,000 years ago.

“In a way, this serves as a reminder for museums; if you discover something extraordinary, avoid covering it with glue or any repair materials prior to completing thorough analysis,” she asserts.

This new timeline suggests that the ivory boomerang predates the second oldest known wooden boomerang created by Australian Indigenous peoples. Unlike other simpler throwing tools, like the 300,000-year-old wooden artifact found in Schoningen, Germany, the boomerang has a curved, aerodynamic design, although it may not always return when thrown, according to Taramo.

While it’s likely that these ancient boomerangs could fly, their size and construction likely meant they did not return to the thrower. They may have held symbolic or ritual significance, potentially related to their placement alongside the thumb bones within a decorative stone ring, which featured intricate carvings and reddish pigments, along with a smooth polished surface.

This discovery provides insight into the cognitive abilities and craftsmanship of early humans during a remarkable period of artistic growth, known as the early Aulignacian, which began around 40,000 years ago. This era saw the emergence of iconic artifacts, including mammoth ivory figurines, rock art, and aesthetically refined tools in Europe, notes Taramo.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The authenticity of “Wool Mammoth Mouse” poses a significant ethical dilemma

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Colossal Biosciences, a US biotech startup, has announced the birth of what is called the “wool mouse.”

The company says gorgeous hair rodents are living evidence that their mission to restore wool mammoths from extinction within a few years is progressing.

To make mice, scientists have introduced eight simultaneous editing into the genome of experimental mice using modern genetic techniques. These include the addition of genes that make fur grow up to three times longer than usual, as well as other genes that make hair wavy and golden.

Other editing targets target genes associated with fat metabolism, which are thought to help increase mammoth size.

Mice are the result of years of hard work by scientists to reconstruct important parts of the mammoth genome. The last wool mammoth is believed to have died about 3,000 years ago, and scientists are stitching together mammoth DNA, which has been decomposed from relics that range from 35 to 1.2 million years ago.

This is the first time that some of the important genes identified throughout the study have been expressed in living animals.

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Mammoth 2.0

Colossal's ambitious long-term plan is to add many of these mammoth genes to modern elephant embryos to create a mammoth-like hybrid.

Despite claiming to be revived wool mammoth, the original Mammuthus Primigeniuswith all the original genetic complexity and population diversity, it has not been brought back to life. Creatures are more accurately referred to as “cold-resistant elephants.”

Scientists designed a “wool mouse” with the mammoth gene, giving it a very long, wavy golden fur. – Photo Credit: Colossal Biosciences

The Mammoth's return was repeated by various groups and dates back to 2011. The group is generally privately funded, and the exact details of their work are rather opaque.

However, these lifestyle, breathing, and rather cute wool mice show that scientists have made impressive advances in reconstructing some of the key genes that have made mammoths unique. Colossal's Chief Scientist Dr. Beth Shapiro The mouse says it is a “critical step in examining an approach to revive the properties lost to extinction.”

A huge task

There's still a lot to do before you see mammoth-like creatures crossing the tundra or walking through the zoo.

Initially, it is much easier to create gene-edited mice than elephants. Mice have been a staple of genetic experiments for decades and can be quickly raised in a huge number.

Elephants, on the other hand, are rarely used in laboratory experiments, and live mammals happen to have longer gestation periods of over 18 months.

Colossal has made impressive advances by manipulating elephant cells into stem cells.

However, even if Colossal could create a viable elephant mammoth embryo, it would not be able to be used as a large number of surrogates, if any, because both Asian and African elephants are at risk of extinction.

This means that Colossal must develop its own artificial uterus to develop experimental embryos until birth. This has never been done before. Such a system should not only replicate all the complexity of the placenta, but also support calves that are as heavy as Asian elephant calves, exceeding at least 100 kg (220 lbs).

https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/41/2025/03/Colossal-mammoth-mice-clip.mp4
Two “wool mice” created by scientists

But perhaps the biggest question remaining is simply, why? Colossal says other similar tasks to revive mammoths and revive dodos and tylacine will lead to biotechnology that will help save other species from environmental changes.

The company claims to stimulate interest and investment so that they can't do anything else, starting with these iconic extinct creatures.

Certainly, the project has attracted a lot of media attention and has attracted more than $200 million (£157 million) of investments that probably wouldn't have made it to a traditional conservation project.

And there are already examples of the technology being used to support species facing extinction today. For example, in Australia, gene editing is used to provide resistance to the poison of cane toads, an invasive species that kill many animals in the region (adorable, endangered marsupials).

In the US, scientists used similar biotechnology to increase the genetic diversity of ferrets with black feet, but it had dipped to a population size that was essentially involved.

More broadly, Colossal's research could help scientists produce eggs, sperm and embryos of a variety of endangered species, including Asian and African elephants, which help to increase numbers.

We can ask questions

But do these lofty ambitions justify? Jurassic Park– Blatant use of genetic engineering? Many people are particularly intelligent social animals like elephants, and feel uneasy about corrections, not to mention a complete overhaul of the genome.

And what is the life of the first artificial wool elephant like? Where do they live and are they introduced to herds and families?

Are they healthy or tired of genetic problems? And shouldn't we focus our efforts on saving habitats and ecosystems, not individual species?

Giant wool mouse showing the properties of an extinct wool mammoth – Photo credit: Giant bioscience

In recent years, genetic engineering has gained greater acceptance among the public, and is generally considered an important way to produce new drugs and disease-resistant crops.

Does the creation of a large, shaggy elephant make people feel that biotechnology is going too far? Or, as a huge hope, will it serve as an inspiring symbol of how technology can save thousands of species that are at risk of extinction each year?

This is a question that biologists, ethicists and biotechnology regulators need to carefully consider the work of scaling up from mice to mammoths.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Can Genetically Engineered “Woolly” Mice Aid in Reviving the Mammoth?

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Mouse modified to give a “mammoth-like” coat

Huge

There is Estimated genetic differences of 1.5 million Between wool mammoth and an Asian elephant. Colossal Biosciences, a company that seeks to revive extinct species through genetic engineering, now makes mice with “mammoth-like” fur, each with up to five genetic changes. It seems there's still a way to go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq9mvp_gg9y

Certainly, these mice have long, curly hair and blonde hair. In that way, it resembles a wool mammoth coat stored in permafrost. However, it is not clear that bringing the same genetic alterations in Asian elephants with far fewer hairs per area of ​​the skin will result in similar results.

“The work done with these mice doesn't mean there's a solution ready to regain the huge phenotype,” says team members. I love Darren At Stockholm University in Sweden, on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Corosal. “As you point out, we also need to understand how to grow more fur.”

Creating an Asian elephant with these genetic changes would also be much more difficult than doing it in a mouse. “Engineering mutations in mice are an established process and are not particularly challenging.” Dusko Ilic King's College London.

Mouse that has been fixed and unfixed

Huge

Techniques that work in mice often fail in other species, and the size of elephants and their slow breeding significantly increases the time and cost involved. “These methods have not been developed for elephants. They are not easy based on anatomy.” Vincent Lynch At Buffalo University, New York. “That's probably the biggest challenge.”

However, Lynch is undoubtedly achievable. surely, Thomas Hildebrandt At the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany – Another giant advisor – New Scientist His team is the first time they've collected eggs from elephants, but the results have not yet been made public. Egg collection is an important step in IVF and is a genetic modification of mammals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGT8SOKDSXO

So how did Colossal make a “mammoth” mouse? Researchers began by looking for known mutations in mice that looked like fur. “[T]The majority of these genes were selected based on previous observations of the coat phenotype in mice,” read in a paper published today, which has not been peer-reviewed.

They identified eight genes that affect patterns (curse), color and hair length when disabled in mice. According to Colossal, one of these eight is a mammoth and is naturally disabled.

From the mammoth genome, the team identified small mutations that are thought to affect hair patterns, along with another disordered gene involved in fat metabolism.

The company then tried to modify these genes in mice. For example, one experiment used CRISPR gene editing to attempt to disable five of these genes in fertilized eggs. From 134 edited eggs, 11 puppies were born, and one of these puppies invalidated copies of both five genes.

Fur stored in frozen mammoth rank

Arami Stock Photo

In another study, the researchers used a form of CRISPR called base editing to abolish several genes in embryonic mouse stem cells. They combined this with another technique called homologous recombination to create the exact mutations found in the mammoth genome. Make accurate changes is much more difficult than disabling genes, but the recombination method works well only in the mouse.

The team then sequenced the cells to identify cells with the desired change and injected into mouse embryos to create chimeric mice. Of the 90 injected embryos, seven mice were born with four intended changes.

These experiments can be said to be successful in producing several mice with desirable physical changes in the fur, but only one genetic change is in exact agreement with what is found in the mammoth genome. It takes more work to achieve Colossal's stated purpose With the creation of “a cold-resistant elephant with all the core biological properties of wool mammoths,” and the elephant pregnancy lasting for about two years, Colossal is in time for a spontaneous 2028 deadline.

“Elephants with fur are not mammoths in the way we think of them.” Juan Antonio Rodriguez At the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He says many of the 1.5 million differences between the mammoth and the Asian elephant genome may not be effective, but it is not clear which is more important.

Even if we did, it's dangerous to make broader changes, says Rodriguez. “The more things change in organisms, the more likely they are to tinker with major metabolic pathways and genes.”

Rodriguez, Lynch and Irik are all

Source: www.newscientist.com

Researchers are thrilled by the discovery of a 50,000-year-old baby mammoth tree

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A team of scientists has unveiled a baby mammoth that has been almost perfectly preserved for 50,000 years in the thawing permafrost of eastern Siberia.

Anatoly Nikolayev, head of the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Laboratory at Northeastern Federal University in Yakutsk, eastern Siberia, described the mammoth as a “unique research discovery” and highlighted its extraordinary state of preservation. He mentioned that there were no signs of injury to the head, torso, ears, or mouth.

NEFU scientists called the mammoth, named Yana, the best-preserved specimen in the world in a press release on Monday.

The carcass of the baby mammoth Yana was unveiled after its discovery in the Yana River basin in eastern Siberia, marking the seventh baby mammoth found in the world. It is 4 feet tall, weighs around 400 pounds, and is less than 6.6 feet long.

Maxim Cheprasov, head of the university’s Mammoth Museum, expressed that the discovery of Yana is expected to provide valuable insights into mammoth development, adaptive characteristics, Ice Age habitats, and other essential aspects of mammoth life.

Yana was found by local residents in the Batagaika Crater, the world’s largest permafrost crater, as it continues to expand due to climate change.

Researchers Gavril Novgorodov and Erel Struchkov pose next to the remains of a baby mammoth discovered in June.
Gavril Novgorodov/Reuters file

The mammoth was estimated to be about 1 year old at the time of its death. Scientists at the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Research Institute are currently conducting further experiments to confirm Yana’s exact age at the time of its death.

The institute is collaborating with genetic researchers from other parts of the Russian Federation to gain more insights into Yana’s life and environment.

Due to climate change, Russia’s permafrost is thawing, leading to surprising prehistoric discoveries in recent years.

In 2020, scientists in Yakutia in northeastern Siberia uncovered a 32,000-year-old saber-toothed tiger mummy. The following year, in 2021, researchers found a 44,000-year-old wolf carcass in the same area.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Study finds ancient genome structure preserved in 52,000-year-old mammoth skin

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Scientists from Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions have announced the discovery of ancient chromosome subfossils in a female mammoth fossil.Mammutus primigeniusThe mammoth, a species of mammoth known as the pygmy mammoth, died 52,000 years ago in what is now Siberia. The fossil preserves the structure of its ancient chromosomes down to the nanometer (billionth of a meter) scale. Researchers hypothesize that the cold of Siberia naturally freeze-dried the mammoth's skin, causing a glass transition that preserved the fossil.

Sandoval Velasco othersAssembled the genome and 3D chromosome structure of a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth. Image courtesy of Sandoval Velasco. others., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.06.002.

“This is a new type of fossil, one whose scale far exceeds that of individual ancient DNA fragments, with sequences a million times larger,” said Dr. Erez Lieberman Aiden, director of the Center for Genome Architecture at Baylor College of Medicine.

“This is also the first time that an ancient sample has been karyotyped.”

Knowing the three-dimensional structure of a genome gives us a lot of additional information beyond its sequence, but most ancient DNA specimens are made up of very small, jumbled up pieces of DNA.

Building on their work mapping the 3D structure of the human genome, Dr Aiden and his colleagues reasoned that the same strategy could be used to assemble ancient genomes, provided suitable ancient DNA samples were found.

The researchers tested dozens of samples over a five-year period, eventually locating an unusually well-preserved woolly mammoth that was unearthed in September 2018 near Belaya Gora, in the Sakha Republic in northeastern Siberia.

“We believe that the freeze-drying occurred naturally shortly after death, and the nuclear structures in the dried samples can remain viable for an incredibly long period of time,” said Dr. Olga Dudchenko of the Center for Genome Structure at Baylor College of Medicine.

To reconstruct the mammoth's genome structure, the authors extracted DNA from skin samples taken from behind the mammoth's ears.

They are, High C This allows them to detect which parts of DNA are in spatial proximity and likely to interact in their natural state within the nucleus.

“Imagine having a puzzle with 3 billion pieces, but not having the final puzzle picture at hand,” said Professor Marc-Marty-Renom, a structural genomicist at the National Center for Genome Analysis and Genomic Regulation.

“Hi-C allows me to get a rough idea of ​​what the picture looks like before I start putting the puzzle pieces together.”

They then combined the physical information from the Hi-C analysis with DNA sequences to identify interacting DNA sections and produced a neat map of the mammoth genome using the modern elephant genome as a template.

The analysis revealed that mammoths had 28 chromosomes, the same number as modern Asian and African elephants.

Remarkably, the fossilized mammoth chromosomes retained a great deal of physical integrity and detail, including the nanoscale loops that contact transcription factors with the genes they control.

By examining the compartmentalization of genes within the nucleus, the scientists were able to identify active and inactive genes in the mammoth skin cells, a proxy for epigenetics and transcriptomics.

Compared with skin cells from the mammoth's closest relative, the Asian elephant, the mammoth's skin cells showed different gene activation patterns, including genes that may be related to fur and cold tolerance.

“For the first time we have mammoth tissue where we can roughly tell which genes are on and which are off,” said Professor Martti Renom.

“This is a surprising new type of data, the first time we've measured cell-specific genetic activity of genes in ancient DNA samples.”

Team result Published in today's journal cell.

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Marcela Sandoval Velasco others2024. A 52,000-year-old mammoth skin sample contains 3D genome structure. cell 187(14):3541-3562; doi:10.1016/j.cell.2024.06.002

Source: www.sci.news

Freeze-dried jerky with remarkably well-preserved mammoth DNA.

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39,000-year-old mammoth leg

Love Darren/Stockholm University

The woolly mammoth, which died 52,000 years ago, has been so well preserved that it’s now possible to sequence its entire genome and reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of its chromosomes. This information provides unprecedented details about how the animal’s genes moved throughout its life. This incredible feat was made possible because the animal’s remains were naturally freeze-dried, preserving its DNA in a glass-like state.

Scientists discovered the remains of a mammoth preserved in permafrost in a Siberian cave in 2018. The mammoth’s tissue was dry, but “not as dry as commercial beef jerky,” the researchers said. Olga Dudchenko “It was, in fact, hairy,” says a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. Wanting to find out what genetic information they could find, Dudchenko and his colleagues took a sample of flesh from behind the mammoth’s ear and sequenced its DNA.

“Until now, scientists have only been able to find small parts of the mammoth’s genome because DNA molecules begin to degrade when an animal dies, but to the researchers’ surprise, the animal’s chromosomes were completely preserved. “This was quite a surprise, as it doesn’t match anything we’ve analyzed so far from 52,000 years ago,” the researchers say. Juan Antonio Rodriguez Members of a research team from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

They also found that mammoths had 28 pairs of chromosomes, the same number as their closest living relative, the Asian elephant. The three-dimensional structure of the chromosomes was also preserved, which helps distinguish active from inactive genes. For example, the genes responsible for hair growth in mammoths were more active than in elephants, allowing the researchers to determine why they have such thick fur.

Identifying whether mammoth or elephant genes are more active could aid in so-called de-extinction efforts, he said. Hendrik Poyner “To get as close as possible to a real mammoth, [genetic] “The skeleton of a mammoth is different from that of an Asian elephant,” he says. Understanding which genes to tweak, such as the one that produces lots of hair, could help create a more realistic-looking and sounding animal that, while not a bona fide mammoth, more closely resembles the ancient pachyderm.

But how did this DNA remain intact for more than 50,000 years? The researchers attribute it to the cave’s ideal conditions, which cooled and dried the animal. “The sample lost much of its moisture during the cold, dry Siberian winter,” says Dudchenko. She adds that a similar drying process occurs during the production of foods such as prosciutto.

To test their theory, the researchers put fresh and freeze-dried beef liver through a series of rigorous tests. After three days at room temperature, the fresh beef’s DNA had fragmented; but the freeze-dried version still retained its nanometer-scale chromosome structure after a year. “At that point, we wondered, rather than time killing it, what is killing it?” Dudchenko says.

So the team tried to destroy the DNA of the mammoth jerky replica by shooting it with a shotgun, running it over with a car, and having a former professional baseball player throw a fastball at it. Each time, the dried beef liver crumbled into pieces, but its microscopic structure remained intact, preserving the DNA inside. “We found that this method worked, and that it survived,” Rodriguez says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The mammoth population on Wrangel Island remained stable before extinction

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Mammoth (Mammutus primigenius) is isolated Wrangel Island Mammoths were discovered off the coast of Siberia approximately 10,000 years ago and survived for over 200 generations before going extinct approximately 4,000 years ago. To study the evolutionary events leading up to their extinction, scientists analyzed the genomes of 21 Siberian mammoths and found that mammoth populations recovered quickly from a severe bottleneck and remained demographically stable for the next 6,000 years.

Three mammoths (Mammutus primigenius) walks up a snow-covered hill with snow-capped mountains rising behind him above a dense green forest of fir trees. Image by Daniel Eskridge.

“We can confidently reject the idea that the population was so small that it was destined to go extinct for genetic reasons,” said Dr Love Dalen, an evolutionary geneticist at the National Academy of Sciences of Canada. Center for PaleogeneticsIt is a joint collaboration between the Swedish Museum of Natural History and Stockholm University.

“This means that it was probably just a chance event that caused the mammoths to go extinct, and if that chance event hadn't occurred, mammoths would still be around today.”

“In addition to shedding light on the population dynamics of woolly mammoths, analysis of the Wrangel Island mammoths could inform conservation strategies for this currently endangered animal.”

“The mammoth is an excellent system for understanding the ongoing biodiversity crisis and what happens from a genetic perspective when a species experiences a population bottleneck, because it reflects the fate of many modern populations,” said Dr Marianne DeHask, also from the Centre for Palaeogenetics.

To understand the genomic impact of the Wrangel Island bottleneck on mammoth populations, the researchers analyzed the genomes of 21 woolly mammoths, 14 from Wrangel Island and seven from the mainland population that existed before the bottleneck.

Overall, the samples span the woolly mammoth's existence over the past 50,000 years and provide insight into how the animal's genetic diversity has changed over time.

Compared to their mainland ancestors, the genomes of the Wrangel Island mammoths showed signs of inbreeding and low genetic diversity.

In addition to the overall low genetic diversity, Major histocompatibility complexA group of genes known to play important roles in the immune response of vertebrates.

The scientists showed that the genetic diversity of the population continued to decline, albeit at a very gradual rate, throughout the 6,000 years that the mammoths lived on Wrangel Island, suggesting that the population size remained stable until the end.

They also showed that the island's mammoth population gradually accumulated moderately deleterious mutations over its 6,000-year existence, but that the most deleterious mutations were slowly eliminated.

“If an individual had a highly deleterious mutation, they would basically not be able to survive, so over time those mutations would slowly disappear from the population. But we know that mammoths accumulated mildly deleterious mutations almost all the way up until their extinction,” Dr DeHask said.

“It's important to remember that current conservation programs will not be enough to simply re-establish populations to a reasonable size. They also need to be actively and genetically monitored, as these genomic effects could last for more than 6,000 years.”

The mammoth genomes analyzed in this study span a long period of time, but do not include the last 300 years of the species' existence.

However, the authors plan to excavate fossils from the final stages of the mammoth and analyze its genome sequence in the future.

“What happened to them at the end is still a mystery. We don't know why they went extinct after surviving fairly well for 6,000 years, but we think it was probably a sudden event,” Dr Dallen said.

“I think there's still hope we can figure out why they went extinct, but I can't make any promises.”

of Investigation result Published in the online journal this week cell.

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Marianne DeHask othersTemporal dynamics of genomic erosion in pre-extinction mammoths. cellPublished online June 27, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.05.033

Source: www.sci.news