News: Ancient DNA

Ancient DNA reveals Down syndrome in past human societies

Remains of individual “CRU001”, who the researchers discovered had Down syndrome

Posted on Feb 21 2024 by Jessica Stanley

By analysing ancient DNA, an international team of researchers have uncovered cases of chromosomal disorders, including what could be the first case of Edwards syndrome ever identified from prehistoric remains.

Solving the disappearance of bears and lions with ancient DNA

Posted on Jan 4 2022 by Kelly Brown

An international team of researchers led by the University of Adelaide, suggest a change in climate is the likely cause of the mysterious disappearance of ancient lions and bears from parts of North America for a thousand years or more prior to the last Ice Age.

Humans hastened the extinction of the woolly mammoth

Posted on Nov 11 2021 by Crispin Savage

New research shows that humans had a significant role in the extinction of woolly mammoths in Eurasia, occurring thousands of years later than previously thought.

Ancient DNA reveals secrets of Game of Thrones wolves

An artists impression of dire wolves feeding on a bison and fending off grey wolves

Posted on Jan 14 2021 by Robyn Mills

Extinct dire wolves split off from other wolves nearly six million years ago and were only a distant relative of today’s wolves, according to new research published in Nature today.

Ancient DNA paints genetic portrait of Andes civilisations

Posted on May 8 2020 by Kelly Brown

An international team of researchers including the University of Adelaide, has completed the first large-scale study of DNA belonging to ancient humans of the central Andes in South America and found early genetic differences between groups of nearby regions, and surprising genetic continuity over thousands of years.