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Ancient Reedbuck DNA Yields 521-Year Half-Life, Limits Hominin Recovery

7/16/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Deon de Jager (University of Copenhagen) led researchers who extracted DNA from a 50,000-year-old reedbuck tooth.
The tooth came from Boomplaas Cave and was among over 300 bovid teeth examined from the last 110,000 years.
DNA from three buffalo dated 21,000 and 12,000 years ago revealed a half-life of about 521 years.
De Jager warned that DNA from Homo naledi (?240,000 years) and Paranthropus robustus (?1 million years) is unlikely to be recovered.

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Story summary

Deon de Jager (University of Copenhagen) led researchers who extracted DNA from a 50,000-year-old reedbuck tooth.
The tooth came from Boomplaas Cave and was among over 300 bovid teeth examined from the last 110,000 years.
DNA from three buffalo dated 21,000 and 12,000 years ago revealed a half-life of about 521 years.
De Jager warned that DNA from Homo naledi (?240,000 years) and Paranthropus robustus (?1 million years) is unlikely to be recovered.