"An analysis of the bones and teeth of ancient mammoths (Mammuthus) has identified some of the microorganisms that lived in the animals' mouths and bodies more than one million years ago. The study, published in Cell on 2 September, describes the oldest microbial DNA ever sequenced, and reveals that some species of pathogenic bacteria that have been linked to the deaths of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) once infected the mouths of their ancient cousins."
"To investigate the relationship between mammoths and microorganisms, the researchers analysed ancient microbial DNA from samples of teeth, skulls and skin from 483 mammoths. The specimens encompass a range of geographical locations, from North America and Britain to Siberia, and date from the Early Pleistocene around one million years ago to the extinction of the last mammoths on Wrangel Island (a remote island off the coast of Siberia) during the Holocene, 4,000 years ago."
Ancient mammoth bones and teeth yielded microbial DNA dating to more than one million years ago. Sequencing produced the oldest microbial DNA ever recovered and identified 310 microbial species associated with mammoth tissues. Samples derived from teeth, skulls, and skin of 483 mammoths spanning North America, Britain, and Siberia, with dates from the Early Pleistocene (~1 million years ago) to the Holocene extinction on Wrangel Island about 4,000 years ago. Some identified bacteria are pathogenic species previously linked to deaths of modern African elephants. The findings enable reconstruction of ancient host-microbe assemblages, insight into microbial contributions to adaptation, and investigation of microbial roles in megafaunal extinction.
Read at www.nature.com
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