The Mediterranean Sea cradles oldest living organism
Marc Roussy
Australian scientists have sequenced the DNA of Posidonia oceanica and dated it to up to 200,000 years old. They studied 40 underwater meadows that span 2,000 miles beginning at Spain and stretching to Cyprus. The grass can reach thousands of metres and weigh up to 6,000 tons.
The recently published scientific paper: “Implications of Extreme Life Span in Clonal Organisms” tries to shed more light on the often overlooked organism and why we are seeing a decline of this species.
“Seagrasses are clonal marine angiosperms that can form extensive meadows. They support important marine ecosystems that rank among the most valuable on earth in terms of biodiversity and production.” The scientists used genetic markers to attempt to get the most accurate aging to date. The analysis found it to be between 12,000 and 200,000 years old but most likely has been around for more than 100,000 years.
Australian scientists have sequenced the DNA of Posidonia oceanica and dated it to up to 200,000 years old. They studied 40 underwater meadows that span 2,000 miles beginning at Spain and stretching to Cyprus. The grass can reach thousands of metres and weigh up to 6,000 tons.
The recently published scientific paper: “Implications of Extreme Life Span in Clonal Organisms” tries to shed more light on the often overlooked organism and why we are seeing a decline of this species.
“Seagrasses are clonal marine angiosperms that can form extensive meadows. They support important marine ecosystems that rank among the most valuable on earth in terms of biodiversity and production.” The scientists used genetic markers to attempt to get the most accurate aging to date. The analysis found it to be between 12,000 and 200,000 years old but most likely has been around for more than 100,000 years.
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