That’s what researchers came to by successfully studying ancient DNA remains – possibly the oldest ever analyzed.
And yet, two million years ago at the northernmost tip of the Earth, just 500 miles from the North Pole, where today vast expanses of ice make up the so-called polar desert, there was intense vegetation, forests and rich fauna from reindeer, rodents to majestic mastodons.
That’s the conclusion researchers came to by studying ancient DNA remnants—probably the oldest ever successfully analyzed.
In particular, an international research team from Denmark presented to Nature the findings of the paleontological studies it carried out and highlighted the existence of a hitherto unknown ecosystem in the area.
It is a biodiverse ecosystem in which various animals lived.
It is noted that despite the fact that no DNA of carnivorous animals was found, it is estimated that predators such as bears, wolves or even tigers may have lived there as well.
In the area there were many plants and trees such as pines, birches and cedars which are noted to have been discovered to be no different from those found in British Columbia today.
Mikael Winter Pedersen, one of the leaders of the team of Danish scientists and one of the main authors of this study published in the journal Nature, said that DNA can survive for 2 million years, twice as long as the oldest DNA found previously. .
In fact, different DNA fragments found in the sediments come from the northernmost part of Greenland, called Cape Copenhagen, and come from a natural environment that we don’t see anywhere on Earth today.
The sediments were so well preserved because they remained frozen and were discovered in workable perimeters. Rivers carried minerals and organic matter into the marine environment, where these terrestrial sediments were deposited. And then at some point, about 2 million years ago, this land mass that was under water rose up and became part of North Greenland,” said the Danish researcher.
“In the area there was a forest environment with mastodons, reindeer and hares and a large number of different plant species. We discovered 102 different species of plants,” said Pedersen specifically.
“The method used provides a fundamental understanding of why minerals or sediments can preserve DNA… it’s a Pandora’s box that we are about to open,” said the coordinator of the geobiology department at the University of Copenhagen, Karina Sand.
SOURCE: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years, and my work has been featured on many different news websites. I am also an author, and my work has been published in several books. I specialize in opinion writing, and I often write about current events and controversial topics. I am a very well-rounded writer, and I have a lot of experience in different areas of journalism. I am a very hard worker, and I am always willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
