Key Points
Researchers have found remnants of DNA in the fossilised remains of a sea turtle dating back six million years..
The turtle would have been about a foot long when alive.. Lead author of the study, paleontologist Edwin Cadena, explained that some of the osteocytes' cell nuclei reacted to a chemical solution, revealing the presence of DNA remnants..
Previous discoveries include DNA from animals, plants, and microbes dating back about two million years, found in sediment at Greenland's remote northernmost point...
Cadena noted that the only older vertebrate fossils found with similar DNA remnants belonged to two dinosaurs - Tyrannosaurus, which lived about 66 million years ago, and Brachylophosaurus, which lived about 78 million years ago..
"Each fossil, each fossil site has specific conditions of preservation that in some cases could have favored preservation of original biomolecular remains such as proteins and DNA," Cadena said...
