Friday, December 18th, 2009

The Dirt on Mammoth DNA

Researchers examining DNA evidence gathered from permafrost soil samples collected north of Fairbanks, Alaska say that the woolly mammoth may have survived for thousands of years longer than the fossil record indicates. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers suggest central Alaska was still home to living mammoths as recently as 7,500 to 10,500 years ago. Those new dates mean that people and mammoths could have co-existed in what is now America for over 3500 years. We'll find out more.

Guests

Eske Willerslev
Professor, Evolutionary Biology Section
Ancient DNA and Evolution Group
Director, Centre for Ancient Genetics
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark

Related Links

Segment produced by:Annette Heist

Friday, December 18th, 2009

• Inside the AGU Meeting
• Data Mining in the Mobile World
• Our Daily Diet of Data
• The Dirt on Mammoth DNA
• Weekends at Bellevue

Elsewhere on Sciencefriday.com

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