Overview

• The Cell paper reports authenticated microbial DNA tied to mammoth tissues that exceeds one million years in age, the oldest host-associated sequences recovered to date.
• Analyses of teeth, bones and skin from 483 mammoths, including 440 newly sequenced samples from Eurasia and North America, yielded 310 microbial taxa.
• Six clades consistently associated with mammoth hosts were identified, including relatives of Actinobacillus, Pasteurella, Streptococcus and Erysipelothrix that persisted across vast time and geography.
• Partial Erysipelothrix genomes were reconstructed from multiple woolly mammoths and a ~1.1‑million‑year‑old steppe mammoth, extending ancient microbial genomics beyond the host genome itself.
• A Pasteurella-related lineage closely matches a pathogen implicated in recent fatal outbreaks in African elephants, though the authors caution degraded data preclude conclusions about disease or any pathogen revival.