Chromosomes reconstructed from 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth

July 12, 2024 8:12 AM

First ancient chromosomes reconstructed from 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth. An incredibly well-preserved woolly mammoth specimen that died 52,000 years ago in Siberia has now had its chromosome structure reassembled for the first time.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (7 comments total)

Bring back fuzzy megafauna!
posted by mhoye at 8:17 AM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Hold onto your tusks.
posted by donio at 8:25 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]

paging John Hammond! Paleolithic Park is even alliterative. (this is way cool)
posted by supermedusa at 8:36 AM on July 12 [3 favorites]

Now a common beginner mistake is to bring the mammoth back and then preserve the steppes. This goes poorly. If you don't have functioning grasslands, how is your mammoth supposed to eat?
posted by ockmockbock at 10:36 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]

Real car sized chicken or the motorcycle sized egg type of question.
posted by Atreides at 1:07 PM on July 12

The best part of this article is the phrase, "jerky-like skin."
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:59 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

paging John Hammond! Paleolithic Park is even alliterative. (this is way cool)

John Varley already did it.

Mammoth opens with the billionaire scientist Howard Christian, and his attempts to clone a mammoth, largely for the sake of the countless circuses he owns. His team finds a mammoth frozen in ice, along with two human beings, one of whom appears to be wearing a wristwatch.

posted by mikelieman at 6:02 AM on July 13