Fossilized squirrel poop full of ancient animals, and more…
6/12/202654 min
Gold miners working in the Yukon regularly find ancient ground squirrel burrows throughout the permafrost, many containing fossilized feces. Researchers analyzing these well-preserved poop piles found they contain some of the oldest DNA ever recovered, dating from 30,000 to 700,000 years ago. Tucked inside were traces of a wide range of ancient animals, including woolly mammoths, grasshoppers, steppe bison, ancient horses, American cheetahs, as well as hundreds of plant species.
PLUS:
- ‘Super-good, ice-making microbes’ may trigger snow and rain, or help freeze food
- We’re a hotbed of mutations, and scientists are leveraging that for our health
- Going out on a limb. Animals regrow body parts, maybe we can too
- From the archives: Isaac Asimov on human creativity and robots
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:01
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Damon Fairless0:12
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Bob McDonald· Host0:37
[upbeat music] Hi, I'm Bob McDonald. Welcome to Quirks & Quarks. On this week's show, what ancient squirrel poop can tell us about life in the Ice Age.
Tyler Murchie· Guest0:50
They were eating the, you know, carcasses of wooly mammoths, and their DNA somehow is surviving through that digestive system and remains perfectly preserved in their poop.
Bob McDonald· Host1:00
And a look at how axolotl salamanders regrow a limb that's been chomped off by a predator.
Tyler Murchie· Guest1:07
It's really incredible what cells and molecules are able to do right at the place of amputation.
Bob McDonald· Host1:13
Plus, an archival interview with Dr. Isaac Asimov, microbes that can make it rain, and how our constantly mutating DNA is a good thing. All this today on Quirks & Quarks.
Unknown speaker1:26
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