{"id":12041,"date":"2022-12-10T17:59:31","date_gmt":"2022-12-10T17:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature"},"modified":"2022-12-10T18:06:23","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T18:06:23","slug":"worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>Some two million years ago, now barren and inhospitable Greenland lived up to its name, with elephant-like mastodons roaming its green forests. The world\u2019s oldest known fragments of DNA have been found in the permafrost of Cape Copenhagen at the northern edge of Greenland, offering an extraordinary glimpse at the extraordinary ancient ecosystem of the world\u2019s largest island.<\/p>\n

The analyzed genetic material dates back at least two million years, which is nearly twice as old as the mammoth DNA from Siberia which was the previous record holder.<\/p>\n

The samples, gathered from more than 130 species ranging from giant mastodons to ants and plants, and identified after several years of painstaking research, showed that Greenland, today one of the world\u2019s most desolate landscapes of ice glaciers and snow-covered mountains, was once covered by a forest of poplar and birch trees inhabited by wildlife such as reindeer, rodents and geese, and washed by warm coastal waters which provided a home to marine species such as horseshoe crabs and green algae. The reconstructed ecosystem has no modern analogue, the researchers said, describing it as a \u201cmix between species that you don’t see living together anywhere in the world.,\u201d<\/p>\n

Extracting DNA from sediment allows researchers to track the ecology and evolution of prehistoric biological communities. It was pioneered by Danish researchers from the Lundbeck Foundation Geogenetics Center at the University of Copenhagen and relies on the binding of ancient DNA to mineral surfaces. In the early 2000s this method was tested on a chunk of Siberian permafrost and facilitated the extraction of DNA from plants such as willows and daisies which lived 400,000 years ago.<\/p>\n

In addition to making us more aware of the past, the discovery can also contribute to future research, the research team stressed. According to Eske Willerslev, professor of genetics at the University of Copenhagen, the temperatures two million years ago were higher than those today. Furthermore, they were similar to the environment and climate the world is moving towards today due to global warming, he emphasized.<\/p>\n

It can be estimated that the temperature in Greenland back then was between 11 and 19 degrees warmer than today, and therefore the two million-year-old ecosystem in North Greenland also provides a detailed insight into how nature reacted to climate change.<\/p>\n

According to him, this is both \u201cbad\u201d and \u201cmore uplifting\u201d news. The bad news is that the human ability to predict changes in the environment is \u201cextremely poor.\u201d The more optimistic news is that the discovered DNA also provides us with a \u201cgenetic map\u201d of how organisms have naturally adapted to climate change.<\/p>\n

The researchers admitted that still older DNA may be found during two expeditions to Northern Canada the coming summer. There, sediments between two and four million years old are found.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. Some two million years ago, now barren and inhospitable Greenland lived up to its name, with elephant-like mastodons roaming its green forests. The world\u2019s oldest known fragments of DNA have been found in the permafrost of Cape Copenhagen at the northern edge of Greenland, offering an extraordinary glimpse at the extraordinary ancient […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[291,293,292],"class_list":["post-12041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-sierra-leone","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some two million years ago, now barren and inhospitable Greenland lived up to its name, with elephant-like mastodons roa ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some two million years ago, now barren and inhospitable Greenland lived up to its name, with elephant-like mastodons roa ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-10T17:59:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-10T18:06:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-10T17:59:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-10T18:06:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature\"},\"wordCount\":485,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Sierra-Leone\",\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature\",\"name\":\"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature - Sierra Leone\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-10T17:59:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-10T18:06:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Some two million years ago, now barren and inhospitable Greenland lived up to its name, with elephant-like mastodons roa ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/\",\"name\":\"Sierra Leone\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature - Sierra Leone","description":"Some two million years ago, now barren and inhospitable Greenland lived up to its name, with elephant-like mastodons roa ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature","og_description":"Some two million years ago, now barren and inhospitable Greenland lived up to its name, with elephant-like mastodons roa ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature","og_site_name":"Sierra Leone","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-12-10T17:59:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-10T18:06:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature","datePublished":"2022-12-10T17:59:31+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-10T18:06:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature"},"wordCount":485,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Sierra-Leone","Sierra-Leone"],"articleSection":["all news","miscellaneous"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature","name":"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature - Sierra Leone","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg","datePublished":"2022-12-10T17:59:31+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-10T18:06:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Some two million years ago, now barren and inhospitable Greenland lived up to its name, with elephant-like mastodons roa ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1670682580.42.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/worlds-oldest-dna-found-in-greenland-reveals-arctics-lost-nature#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"World\u2019s Oldest DNA Found in Greenland Reveals Arctic\u2019s Lost Nature"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/","name":"Sierra Leone","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}