missing megafauna

There is so much exciting research based on sequencing of ancient DNA coming out now that it's easy to lose track of the historic and prehistoric humans and hominins getting sequenced and sorted into family trees. Not quite as much ancient DNA work targets animals, if only because they are more likely to get eaten after death, rather than being buried in a form that benefits genome analysis.

A recent paper on a dozen well-preserved cave lions found in permafrost soil and sequenced in comparison to modern lions caught my eye, however. I used it as an excuse to revisit megafauna extinctions, this time through the lense of genomic studies. It's always useful to have a mascot to remember a feature by, so this is now the cave lion feature, although other species of Pleistocene megafauna also appear, including elephants, ground squirrels and giant echidnas.

The resulting feature is out now:

Charting the missing megafauna

Current Biology Volume 36, Issue 13, 6 July 2026, Pages R729--R731

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See also my new Mastodon thread where I will highlight all this year's CB features.

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Last year's thread is here .

This exceptionally well-preserved female cave lion cub named Sparta was discovered in 2018 in Belaya Gora, near the Indigirka River in northeastern Siberia. Her genome was one of the twelve studied by David Stanton and colleagues. (Photo by Love Dalén.)