Bison bone goldmine leads to climate adaptation breakthrough

Researchers unearthed more than gold at a Canadian goldmine when they found 30,000 year old bison bones.

The bones discovered in permafrost are providing new insights into how animals adapt to rapid environmental change through indications preserved in the DNA previously only available through the study of maize, mice and Arabidopsis.

The team from University of Adelaide and Sydney’s Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute believe the bones will throw light on epigenetic changes to gene expressions.

They are hopeful this will provide more insight into the evolutionary development of species with regard to environmental changes.