Mastodoros: distant relatives of elephants

2001/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Eboluzioa

About ten years ago, a mastodon skeleton was discovered in the swampy area of an Ohio (USA) golf course. This discovery was very important, on the one hand, for the importance of the discovery of the bones and, on the other, for the presence in the bones of intestinal remains.

At that time, Ohio University scientist Weslyan Jerry Goldstein collected these traces and cultivated various bacteria that live in the intestinal tract of mammals. Now, with advances in genetics, he has begun to obtain and analyze the mastodoro DNA sample. Although it has so far obtained copies of a single gene, it plans to make more copies of the same gene and sequencing of others. Mastodorado is a mammal that lived millions of years ago.

At present, the American mastodon is considered to be a relative of the Siberian mammoth and both distant relatives of the current Asian and African elephant. Goldstein's research will serve to contrast this relationship and obtain more information.