Oldest known DNA paints a picture of a once-lush arctic world

Oldest known DNA paints a picture of a once-lush arctic world

Subject: Science and Technology

About the discovery-

• Location-KapKobenhavn in Northern Greenland’s permafrost, a region 600 miles from the north pole.
• Species discovered- 135 species of animal and plants (120 plant species out of which 75 are new). These species include Mastodons (a tree species, known to thrive with poplar and birch trees.), geese, lemmings, ants, caribou, Arctic hares, horseshoe crabs, corals and algae.
• Geological time scale- The genetic materials found in Greenland are estimated to be two-million-year-old. Twice the age of the oldest known DNA of a mammoth in Siberia, which is 1.2 million years old?

What does the discovery suggest?

• Presence of mastodons suggests that the region was once covered by a forest of poplar and birch trees.
• Presence of Caribou suggests the presence of warm coastal water in that region.
• They found layers in the sediment in which the minerals revealed that the Earth’s magnetic field had flipped.

Significance of the discovery-

• To understand the evolutionary process of these species.
• Understanding and developing the new method of DNA extraction and their study.
• Understanding the adaptation process of species to their environment.