Oldest ever DNA samples found in Greenland date back 2 million years. They shed light on the continent’s long-lost past.

Sediment at Greenland’s northernmost point dredged up around the mouth of
an Arctic Ocean fjord has yielded DNA from animals, plants, and bacteria
dating back around 2 million years, the oldest on record.
On Wednesday, scientists reported finding DNA fragments from various
organisms, including animals such as mastodons, reindeer, hares, lemmings,
and geese, as well as plants such as poplar, birch, and thuja trees, and
microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. DNA is the hereditary substance
that replicates in living creatures and contains the instructions for
making copies of the organism itself.