All articles tagged with #ancient dna
A new genomic review suggests the ancestors of modern Indigenous peoples arrived in the Americas no earlier than 21,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum. While this aligns with some archaeological data, significant gaps in ancient DNA samples and conflicting interpretations of older sites like White Sands keep the debate open.
A new genomic review suggests the ancestors of modern Indigenous Americans arrived in the Americas no earlier than 21,000 years ago, aligning with the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. While this contradicts older archaeological claims of 23,000-year-old footprints in New Mexico, researchers note that current DNA samples are limited and may not capture all early lineages.
A new study reveals that aurochs vanished from Scandinavia thousands of years earlier than elsewhere in Europe due to a combination of genetic bottlenecks, intense hunting, and habitat loss. Researchers analyzed ancient DNA from bones found in bogs and settlement sites in southern Sweden and Denmark to reconstruct the population history of these wild cattle ancestors. The findings indicate that while the species survived globally until the 17th century, the Scandinavian population collapsed around 6,500 years ago. This early extinction was driven by a sharp drop in genetic diversity during their initial migration north, followed by isolation when rising seas flooded land bridges to mainland Europe. Concurrently, increased human settlement and hunting pressure, combined with the expansion of dense forests that reduced grazing land, led to the final disappearance of the species in the region.
A forensic anthropologist has digitally reconstructed the face and hairstyle of a man who lived in Ecuador approximately 3,000 years ago, based on the Punin-2 skull. The reconstruction confirms the individual was a modern human with Native American ancestry, resolving a century-old debate about the skull's origins.
Researchers at University College Dublin identified ancient sheeppox virus DNA in the York Gospels and other medieval manuscripts, revealing that the pathogen has infected livestock for over 3,700 years. Published in Science Advances, the study shows that parchment made from infected animal skins preserved viral genetic material, offering insights into the virus's evolution and its ongoing threat to global agriculture.
Researchers extracted DNA from animal skins used to make medieval books and found 21 sheeppox virus genomes dating from about 1700 BCE to 1917 CE, enabling reconstruction of over 3,500 years of the virus’s evolution. The DNA was recovered non-invasively by erasing parchment surfaces, suggesting archives can preserve ancient pathogen DNA and reveal past outbreaks. The study places the virus’s divergence in the Bronze Age (around 3000 BCE) and notes some genomes may reflect cross-species infections or parchment contamination, but overall the sheeppox genome has remained fairly stable, offering insights for future disease control.
Researchers reconstructed 26 Yersinia pestis genomes from 11 sites dating 14th–18th centuries, showing plague repeatedly resurfaced across Europe during the Second Plague Pandemic, forming new lineages and spreading via trade, armies, and migration; improved dating links genomes to specific outbreaks and suggests multiple regional reservoirs, with climate factors such as the Great Renaissance Drought potentially driving expansions.
New ancient-DNA analysis of 75 plague genomes from 14th–18th century Europe shows the Black Death did not end plague: Yersinia pestis repeatedly re-entered Europe, spreading in waves and diversifying into three major branches around 1450–1500. The outbreaks align with major conflicts and trade routes, and climate-driven rodent reservoirs likely shaped spread. A novel dating method, Phylogenetically Informed Radiocarbon Modeling (PhIRM), tightens links between genomes and historical outbreaks, revealing a long but fluctuating Second Plague Pandemic that persisted for centuries before waning.
New genomic analyses of Denisovan DNA suggest they carried genetic material from an unknown archaic human lineage that lived about 1.8 million years ago, adding complexity to the story of early human evolution.
Genetic evidence shows modern humans and Neanderthals overlapped and interbred long before Neanderthals vanished around 40,000 years ago; non-African populations today carry about 1–4% Neanderthal DNA (East Asians are a bit higher). The main admixture occurred roughly 45,000–49,000 years ago and continued for about 7,000 years, with ‘Neanderthal deserts’ indicating regions where archaic DNA was purged. The Oase man carried 6–9% Neanderthal DNA, illustrating very recent ancestry. Surviving Neanderthal fragments influence immune function, skin, and metabolism, and some variants are linked to disease risk such as severe COVID-19 on chromosome 3. In short, Neanderthals did not vanish from our genome—they left a lasting genetic legacy through interbreeding and natural selection.
New analyses of 258 ancient genomes from the Roman frontier (400–700 AD) reveal that Rome’s collapse did not trigger a mass barbarian invasion. Instead, northern European and Roman provincial populations mixed gradually through intermarriage and local movement, creating a European genetic mosaic by the early medieval period. The frontier was porous, kin networks shaped settlements, and by the 7th century the genetic profile resembled modern central Europeans, showing late antiquity as a gradual transformation rather than a single conquest. Life expectancy was about 43 for men and 40 for women, with notable child mortality but common grandparent presence; Roman customs and Christian norms persisted in new rural communities.
New high-coverage nuclear genomes from Miracinonyx trumani reveal it is closest to the living puma, not the African cheetah, indicating convergent evolution of its cheetah-like form; isotope data show Wyoming individuals hunted generalist prey while Yukon specimens relied on salmon and inland fish; the species had low genetic diversity across populations and a vast range from Arctic tundra to the lower 48 before a slow decline tied to climate change; the study was published in Current Biology on Sept. 4, 2026.
Researchers extracted DNA from parchment made from animal skins in medieval manuscripts (e.g., the York Gospels) and found traces of the sheep pox virus dating back about 3,700 years. The study shows infected animals may have been used to produce pages, and that parchment can preserve pathogen DNA, offering insights into how the virus evolved over millennia—while there is no evidence it can infect humans.
Ancient DNA extracted from medieval parchments and Bronze Age sheep remains shows the sheeppox virus (SPPV) spanning about 3,700 years, with 21 new ancient genomes recovered from manuscripts and skins. The findings suggest skins from infected animals were used for parchment, linking the virus’s history to sheep domestication and Eurasian livestock movements, while genetic analyses indicate long-term stability of the SPPV lineage (with major divergences dating back 11,500–3,700 years). The research underscores how parchment preserves a record of livestock disease that still poses risks today, reflected in contemporary outbreaks.
New fossil and DNA evidence reshapes how we picture 10 extinct species, showing that our legends often misstate their size, diet, or behavior—from Arctic ground squirrels scavenging big prey to cave lions interbreeding with modern lions, Nanotyrannus as a distinct smaller tyrannosaur, Leedsichthys’ giant size, California grizzly omnivory, the dodo’s brain-based behavior, unexpectedly tall Denisovans, Megalodon possibly longer and leaner, to a Balearic Island cave goat with reptile-like growth.