North American bison fell from millions to hundreds, but ancient DNA shows they kept much of their genetic diversity as isolated herds became different

Scientists have pieced together the deepest genetic history of the North American bison ever assembled, using DNA drawn from 115 animals that lived before the species was pushed to near extinction in the 20th century. As per the findings, led by researchers at the University of California, and featured on the cover of the 6 August issue of Science, this offers the first genomic baseline for what healthy bison diversity looked like before hunting, new diseases, habitat destruction and government eradication campaigns reduced the population from tens of millions to a few hundred.

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