Animals have been around for over 120 thousand years.
With the help of DNA analysis of ancient remains of bison, scientists have found that these animals have been around for over 120 thousand years, reports the journal Nature. Prior to this, the history of the emergence of the animal for scientists remained a mystery.
Australian biologist Alan Cooper and his colleagues have studied the genome of 64 bison. Because of this, they found that bison appeared by crossing between the extinct steppe bison, and the ancestors of modern cattle.
Previous studies showed that bison appeared about 11.7 thousand years ago, shortly after the extinction of the steppe bison. However, due to the lack of more ancient remains, scientists could not determine the time of origin of this species of mammals.
Moreover, many rock paintings that are about 12 thousand years, depicted animals that resembled the modern bison, so paleontologists didn’t doubt the age of the animal.
Bison are the last representatives of wild bulls in Europe. Currently, each animal of this species in the world recorded in the stud book maintained in the Bialowieza national Park.
