What Can Ancient DNA Tell Us?

Scientists have been studying ancient DNA to find out:

• What types of plants and animals lived at a particular time in the past.
• What extinct animals ate.
• How similar (genetically) extinct plants and animals were to living species.
• What animals were hunted by ancient humans.
• How ancient human cultures lived.
• What types of disease were present in ancient human populations.

For example, the structure of the Thylacine jawbone suggested that it may be related to an extinct South American carnivorous marsupial, Borhyaena. Ancient DNA studies show instead that the Thylacine is related to the living Australian marsupials. The superficial similarities in jaw structure of the Thylacine and Borhyaena are the result of convergent evolution.