Ancient Horse Is the Oldest DNA Genome Mapped
- 11 years ago
The oldest DNA ever mapped by scientists is that of a horse from around 700 thousand years ago. The ancient horse DNA is from the remains of a species that lived in Yukon, Canada.
The oldest DNA ever mapped by scientists is that of a horse from around 700 thousand years ago.
The ancient horse DNA is from the remains of a species that lived in Canada's Yukon territory.
Frozen in permafrost, the remains include well-preserved blood and tissue, which allowed researchers to create a map of the DNA.
Gene mapping has created a genome that is about 10 times older than the second oldest DNA map.
Additionally, the team mapped DNA samples from a 43 thousand year old horse that was also preserved by being frozen, modern horses, a donkey, and a Przewalski horse for comparison.
Some researchers thought that Przewalski horses from Mongolia were a subspecies of domesticated horses, like the American Mustang, but the latest DNA maps show they are a completely separate species, making them the last wild horses on Earth.
The data also pointed to evidence that the common ancestor of zebras, horses, donkeys, and asses lived between 4 to 4 and a half million years ago, which is twice as old as previous evidence suggests.
The oldest DNA ever mapped by scientists is that of a horse from around 700 thousand years ago.
The ancient horse DNA is from the remains of a species that lived in Canada's Yukon territory.
Frozen in permafrost, the remains include well-preserved blood and tissue, which allowed researchers to create a map of the DNA.
Gene mapping has created a genome that is about 10 times older than the second oldest DNA map.
Additionally, the team mapped DNA samples from a 43 thousand year old horse that was also preserved by being frozen, modern horses, a donkey, and a Przewalski horse for comparison.
Some researchers thought that Przewalski horses from Mongolia were a subspecies of domesticated horses, like the American Mustang, but the latest DNA maps show they are a completely separate species, making them the last wild horses on Earth.
The data also pointed to evidence that the common ancestor of zebras, horses, donkeys, and asses lived between 4 to 4 and a half million years ago, which is twice as old as previous evidence suggests.