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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

🚨 A #CPGSthlm -led study uses a large-scale ancient DNA dataset to uncover the origins of Upper Paleolithic mammoth bone accumulations 🦣🦴🦴🦴🦴🧬 In contrast to dispersed sites, accumulations are female-biased, suggesting they resulted from human exploitation! 🏹🍖 OA paper👉 www.cell.com/current-biol...

Kraków Spadzista 2023 excavations. Photo credit: Jarosław Wilczyński

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Our #CPGSthlm delegation had great presentations and posters at #SMBE2026! 👏👏👏 ♥️🧬🦣🫎🦠🦋🐝🐀💀🦬🧪

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Isabelle Feinauer is currently defending their PhD thesis on the genomic consequences of postglacial recolonization of Scandinavian mammals with Morten Tange Olsen as the opponent. Good luck, Isa!

Isa and Morten discussing bear phylogenetic trees.

Isa at the beginning of her presentation.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Huge congratulations to lead author David Stanton, as well as all co-authors and collaborators who helped make this study possible! Photo: The female cave lion cub named Sparta, whose genome was sequenced in this study (photo taken by Love Dalén) 🧵 9/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Ancient DNA is revealing that many extinct species had much deeper and more complex histories than we once imagined. The cave lion was the product of nearly 2 million years of independent evolution. Photo: Skull of cave lion (photo taken by Love Dalén) 🧵 8/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

One surprise: cave lions do not appear to have been in a long-term demographic decline before extinction. Their effective population size may actually have exceeded that of modern African lions. Image: Population size changes in lions over time 🧵 7/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

We also identified cave-lion-specific genetic changes in genes linked to neurological function, vision and the circulatory system. Potential clues to how these animals adapted to Ice Age environments. Image: Functions linked to genetic changes in cave lions 🧵 6/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Even more remarkably, the amount of modern lion ancestry in cave lions increased during glacial periods and decreased during warmer intervals. Climate appears to have repeatedly brought the two species together. Image: Amount of interbreeding was correlated with global ice volume 🧵 5/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

But despite this deep divergence, cave lions and the ancestors of modern lions occasionally interbred. Their genomes preserve the signatures of those ancient encounters. Image: The extinct modern lion population from southwest Asia showed the best evidence for modern <-> cave interbreeding. 🧵 4/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Our results show that cave lions were not just a northern population of modern lions. They represented a distinct evolutionary lineage that persisted in Eurasia for nearly 2 million years. Image: A) cave lion samples, B) modern and cave lions were distinct lineages, C) modern lion samples 🧵 3/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

The cave lion was one of the most successful predators of the Ice Age. It ranged from Britain to Alaska and is immortalized in spectacular prehistoric cave art. Picture: European cave lions in Chauvet Cave, museum replica (WikiCommons) 🧵 2/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

🧬 New paper in Cell! Analysis of 12 cave lion genomes shows that cave lions and modern lions may have diverged more than three times earlier than previously thought – as early as 1.7 million years ago! AND…they interbred when temperatures dropped! Paper: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... 🧵 1/9

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

#CPGStlhm 's PhD candidate @officialernst.bsky.social is currently defending his thesis on using metagenomics sedimentary DNA to reconstruct past ecosystems 🧬🏞️ in Sweden with Laura Epp as opponent. Good luck, Ernst!

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

We present DNAharvester 🎉🦴🚜🧬 A pipeline to process highly degraded ancient DNA data that integrates metagenomic filtering, competitive mapping, multiple alignment strategies, reference bias evaluation and much more. GitHub: github.com/NBISweden/DN... Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

By investigating the presence of pathogens in the remains, the authors detected one individual carrying Mycobacterium leprae 🦠 (the bacteria responsible for leprosy), providing insight into the health of medieval Ibiza societies.

Maximum-likelihood (ML) phylogeny of Mycobacterium leprae.

Microscopy image of Mycobacterium leprae.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Their results also reveal direct genetic links to Senegambia and southern Chad, showing that medieval Ibiza was connected to wider trans-Saharan networks. These data match historical sources describing Almoravid movements, military recruitment, and slave and trade networks across the Sahara.

Plan of the excavation. The analysed burials are shown in red.

Aerial view of the cemetery, which was discovered by chance during construction works.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

New paper alert 🚨 Researchers at #CPGStlhm have analyzed ancient genomes from an Islamic cemetery in Ibiza (950–1150 CE) 🏖️ They found a highly diverse community with ancestry from Europe and North Africa! The paper was published in @natcomms.nature.com OA link www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Map of the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages, showing the Islamic areas of influence and Ibiza.

Ricardo, lead author of the article, processing one of the samples in the lab.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Two palaeogeneticists traveling to Northern Yukon's wilderness in search of extremely old DNA 🧊🧬🧪 A mysterious permafrost mummy hidden in the collections 🦴🕵️ An Agatha Christie book 📖 @gog1693.bsky.social behind-the-scenes story on his paper has EVERYTHING! Paper 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The mysterious mummified tissue found in the collections, nicknamed "Mr. Parker Pyne".

Gonzalo sampling some specimen in Whitehorse collections.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Congrats to Alicia Muriel and Michael Mitschke for successfully presenting their research in Half-Time PhD seminars!! 🎉🐑🐝🧬

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

@knmoreland.bsky.social and @mootspoints.bsky.social are currently presenting their mammoth research at the International Conference of Mammoths and their Relatives (ICMR) 🦣🐘🧬 in Nairobi, Kenya.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Read our new paper in Genome Biology & Evolution to learn more about how sequencing the genome from a 14,000 year old wolf puppy's last meal yielded novel insights into the woolly rhino's extinction: academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... 📷 Mietje Germonpré

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Congrats to @knmoreland.bsky.social for the successful Half Time PhD seminar 🎉🦣🧬

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

🦣 🤯 🦣 🤯 🦣 Video of woolly mammoth leg discovered in the Siberian permafrost! Researchers from #CpgSthlm and SciLifeLab have now, for the first time ever, identified signatures of gene activity in frozen mammoth remains! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

🧬🧬🧬 🦣❤️🦣 🧬🧬🧬 New #CpgSthlm paper led by @maridehasque.bsky.social published in Biology Letters! Genomic and morphological analysis reveals long-term mammoth hybridization in British Columbia, Canada royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

The world's oldest bacterial DNA found in a million-year-old mammoth! New results from researchers at #CpgSthlm published in Cell! Paper: www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

🚨JOB ALERT!🚨 Postdoc position at #CpgSthlm on Microtine Palaeogenomics! Join our deep-time genomics project, funded by @erc.europa.eu, and help us explore lemming and vole evolution using ancient DNA from fossils spanning the last 2.6 million years 🐭🦴🧬 Apply here: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

New paper out from @johannanvs.bsky.social, @lovedalen.bsky.social and others from #CpgSthlm, using historical DNA to investigate temporal genomic change in the Scandinavian arctic fox! Paper: academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Postdoctoral Position in Wildlife Palaeogenomics! Come join us in beautiful Stockholm! su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

What an incredible time we had last week at the Nobel Symposium "Palaeogenomics: Charting the Future of Ancient DNA" 💀🦣🦠🧬🧪 Connecting with so many leading international researchers in #ancientDNA at beautiful Villa Aske and Stockholm was inspiring ✨🤩 Thank you to all participants!

Group photo of all participants of the symposium.

Beth Shapiro in her public lecture on "How to clone a mammoth" at Aula Magna, Stockholm University.

The participants watch one of the talks during the symposium.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

We're thrilled to announce that the FIRST International Conference on Palaeogenomics will happen in Stockholm, Sweden, June 23-26 2026! Topics will span from humans to wildlife and sediments 🧬🦣💀🦠 bring it on! Save the dates! Follow @palaeogenomics.bsky.social for news 👉icp2026.palaeogenomics.org

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

New review paper in TREE out! The Progressive Evolution of Cold-Adapted Species By John Stewart, @lovedalen.bsky.social, @palaeopete.bsky.social and others www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

NOBEL SYMPOSIA We are delighted to announce two exciting public talks on Ancient DNA at Aula Magna (Stockholm University) on May 30th, 10:00-12:30h. 🦣⬅️ ”Can we bring back the woolly mammoth?” by Beth Shapiro. 🐎✋”The taming of the horse” by Ludovic Orlando. Free entrance. All welcome!

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Finally, in addition to recovering these million-year-old mitogenomes, we also present an improved DNA-based framework 🧬📈 for dating ancient samples beyond the limit of radiocarbon dating, which can facilitate more accurate reconstructions of species’ evolutionary histories!

A mammoth tusk sticking out of the sediment.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

By analysing these very old mitogenomes together with >200 previously published ones, we were able to detect long-lost genetic diversity in the mammoth lineage during the last million years and to show how this loss coincides with past demographic and climatic changes.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

We recovered 34 new mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from Siberian and North American mammoth specimens. Of them, 11 date back to the Early and Middle Pleistocene geological periods, spanning from ~1.3 million to ~125 thousand years ago.

A map with the mammoth sample locations.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

New paper 🧵 A team co-led by #cpgsthlm 's researcher @jcchacond.bsky.social has analysed DNA from a large number of mammoths across a million-year timescale 🦣🧬 The findings include the discovery and analysis of the oldest known woolly #mammoth in North America! 👉 academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Pictures of a woolly mammoth molar dated to 216kya. The earliest in North America.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Our student @bergfeldt.bsky.social is currently defending her PhD thesis on metagenomics 🧬🦠 of ancient human populations, with Carles Lalueza-Fox from @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social as opponent. Good luck, Nora!

Carles putting Nora's thesis into a broader context.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Congrats to Samantha López Clinton for the successful half-time PhD seminar 🎉

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Congrats to our students @alexgilardet.bsky.social and Chenyu Jin for their successful Licentiate defense and half-time PhD seminar! 🎉

A photo of Alexandre Gilardet presenting his research during the Licentiate defense.

A photo of Chenyu Jin presenting her research during the half-time PhD seminar.

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

We now have an answer! Our postdoc Gonzalo (@gog1693.bsky.social) and his student Sofia have analyzed DNA from this frozen carcass. It's a porcupine 😲 🤯

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Centre for Palaeogenetics @cpgsthlm.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

This frozen "Mystery Mummy" was found in the Klondike permafrost, and is likely several tens of thousands of years old!! But what species is this? We don't know! What is your best guess? We have a sample in our lab, and are working on sequencing it's DNA, so can soon tell you who got it right 😀

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