Ancient DNA trove uncovered in Yukon squirrel droppings

Scientists have recovered a vast trove of ancient DNA from woolly mammoths, bison, horses, and other long-extinct species, preserved for hundreds of thousands of years within fossilized Arctic ground squirrel droppings in Canada's Yukon region. The findings, published on June 9, 2026, in the journal Nature Communications, are based on genetic material extracted from permafrost-sealed squirrel burrows, with some samples dating back approximately 700,000 years, making it among the oldest environmental DNA ever sequenced.

The research team, which included scientists from McMaster University, the Hakai Institute, and other institutions, analyzed preserved feces, or coprolites, from 13 ancient ground squirrel burrows in central Yukon. The burrows, frozen in permafrost, ranged in age from about 30,000 to 700,000 years. From pellets roughly one to two centimeters long, researchers extracted an extraordinary amount of genetic material.

The DNA revealed a detailed snapshot of a prehistoric ecosystem known as Beringia, a region historically linking North America and Siberia. The genetic evidence points to a rich biodiversity including microbes, over 200 plant groups, insects, other...