Reconstruction of Ancient Chromosomes Offers Insight Into Mammalian Evolution

Andy Fell — June 21, 2017 - 11:50am

What if researchers could go back in time 105 million years and accurately sequence the chromosomes of the first placental mammal? What would it reveal about evolution and modern mammals, including humans?

In a study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have gone back in time, at least virtually, computationally recreating the chromosomes of the first eutherian mammal, the long-extinct, shrewlike ancestor of all placental mammals.

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Reconstruction of Ancient Chromosomes Offers Insight Into Mammalian Evolution