Sequencing of DNA from fossils and remains to reconstruct population history, such as Neanderthal admixture.
DNA degrades, but short fragments survive in cold, dry places for up to hundreds of thousands of years (a 2 million-year-old Greenland sample is the oldest so far). Contamination control is essential. Svante Pääbo won the 2022 Nobel Prize for sequencing Neanderthal DNA.
Sequencing of DNA from fossils and remains to reconstruct population history, such as Neanderthal admixture.
Ancient DNA is one of the 53 topics in Evolution. It is rated Advanced, so it suits learners who want specialist depth. Related topics in this area include Fossils, Cambrian Explosion, Molecular Clock.
Ancient genomes revealed Denisovans from a finger bone.
Work through the Beginner topics in Evolution first, such as Evolution, Natural Selection, Charles Darwin, then return to Ancient DNA. Advanced topics assume the Intermediate vocabulary.
The closest topics to Ancient DNA are Fossils, Cambrian Explosion, Molecular Clock, Founder Effect and Bottleneck. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Ancient DNA. To practise the whole of Evolution, use the Evolution quiz.
Ancient DNA: Sequencing of DNA from fossils and remains to reconstruct population history, such as Neanderthal admixture. Fossils: Preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms that record the history of life. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Fossils and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Evolution quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
Preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms that record the history of life.
🦎 EvolutionA rapid diversification of animal body plans about 540 million years ago.
🦎 EvolutionUses the steady rate of neutral mutations to estimate when lineages diverged.
🦎 EvolutionLoss of genetic diversity after a few individuals found a new population or numbers crash.
🦎 Evolution