In a paper published online in advance in Genome Biololgy this week, a team led by investigators at McMaster University in Ontario report the first complete mitochondrial genome for a classic Columbian mammoth, which it says hints that the species may have interbred with North American woolly mammoths. "One potential explanation is that woolly mammoth haplotypes entered Columbian mammoth populations via introgression at subglacial ecotones," the authors write, adding that further, multi-genomic data will be required to "sufficiently characterize mammoth evolutionary history."
As news of the potential interbreeding between mammoth species has made its way to into the new and onto popular blogs, Daily Scan would like to point out some of our favorite headlines. "Big Love: Woolly Mammoths, Huge Elephants May Have Interbred," LiveScience says. And, according to The Inquistir, "Woolly Mammoths, Giant Elephants May Have Gotten Busy."