02.21.2021 09:00 AM

The oldest DNA ever sequenced shows how the genus split off into new species.

ANCIENT DNA HASrevolutionized how we understand human evolution, revealing how populations moved and interacted and introducing us to relatives like the Denisovans, a “ghost lineage” that we wouldn’t realize existed if it weren’t for discovering theirDNA. But humans aren’t the only ones who have left DNA behind in their bones, and the same analyses that worked for humans can work for any other group of species.ARS TECHNICA

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Today, the mammoths take their turn in the spotlight, helped by what appears to be the oldest DNA ever sequenced. DNA from three ancient molars, one likely to be over a million years…