DNA extracted from a woolly mammoth excavated in 2018 was so well preserved that scientists have, for the first time, constructed a three-dimensional genome from ancient genetic material.
That information, from an animal that died in Siberia about 52,000 years ago, allows better comparisons between extinct mammoths and contemporary elephants, according to a report in Cell.
Freeze-Dried Woolly Mammoth
A team of 56 scientists from four organizations collaborated to find the fossil, excavate it, then analyze what co-author Erez Lieberman Aiden described as “ancient beef jerky,” during a virtual news conference.
