World’s oldest DNA and what it tells us about evolution

Researchers from the Center for Palaeogenetics in Sweden analyzed DNA extracted from a 1.2-million-year-old mammoth tooth which now holds the record for world's oldest DNA. It has been named the Krestovka mammoth after the region in Russia where it was found. This newly discovered mammoth species ties the older Siberian steppe mammoths and the Columbian mammoths that populated North America. Scientists believe that Krestovka mammoths provided half of their DNA to North America’s Columbian mammoth, while woolly mammoths provided the other half. That makes the Columbian mammoth a hybrid of the two earlier types of mammoth. Mapping out comparisons has helped scientists understand the slow evolution and adaptations to life in cold Arctic conditions.