What unique discovery was made when comparing the genomes of modern woolly mammoths and elephants?

mammoths shaggy they were characterized by their fur and small ears, these and other features were genetically encoded in the first specimens, but they were determined over 700,000 years of the existence of a species roaming the steppes of Siberia.

A study by Swedish scientists, which is published this Friday. Current biology studied and compared genomes woolly mammothsfrom the first specimens to the most recent, with other modern African and Asian elephants, to discover what made the first ones unique as individuals and as a species.

mammoths shaggy They had some very distinctive morphological features, but there are many other adaptations, such as fat metabolism and cold perception, that are not so obvious because they are at the molecular level, explained first author David Diez of the Stockholm Center for Paleogenetics.

The team had 23 genomes woolly mammoths who lived in the last 100,000 years, with the exception of one that corresponds to the Chukchi, one of the oldest known, about 700,000 years ago.

gene identification

The Chukchi genome made it possible to identify genes that have evolved throughout the life of the species, with the help of which it can be argued that its specific mutations are unique to this species. woolly mammoths and his ancestors did not have them, added Lyubov Dalen, who also signed.

In the genome of this first known sample, there were approximately 91.7% of mutations that caused changes in protein coding in the past.woolly mammoths more modern.

This means that many of the species’ defining traits, including thick fur, fat metabolism, and the ability to sense cold, were most likely already present when it first split from its ancestor. mammoth steppes, and they evolved.

First woolly mammoths it is possible that they had “big ears, and their coat was different, perhaps less insulating and downy, than woolly mammoths later,” Dalen added.

The study identified a gene with several mutations that could be responsible for their tiny ears, as well as others associated with living in cold environments and common to unrelated living Arctic mammals.

Some “highly evolved genes related to fat metabolism and storage are also found in arctic species such as reindeer and polar bears, meaning that there is likely a convergent evolution of these genes in cold-adapted mammals,” Diez said.

woolly mammoths More modern humans also had several immune mutations in T-cell antigens that their ancestors did not, and the authors speculate that they may have conferred enhanced cellular immunity in response to emerging viral pathogens.

In this study, all genomes were found in Siberia, but the researchers hope they can compare them with others. woolly mammoths North America in the future. (As reported by EFE)

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