Big, blonde and hairy...Byline For the use of the term in football (soccer), see Byline (soccer). The byline on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name, and often the position, of the writer of the article. : By Mail Reporter THERE may have been both blonde and brunette mammoths, a study of DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. from one of the beast's bones suggests. Scientists discovered that the giant elephant-like creatures, which became extinct about 9,000 years ago, had a common gene for hair colour that comes in two varieties. One version would have given them light coats' the other dark coats. The gene, called Mc1r, is known to determine hair colour in several modern mammals The class Mammalia (the Mammals) is divided into two subclasses based on reproductive techniques: egg laying mammals (the Monotremes); and mammals which give live birth. The latter subclass is divided into two infraclasses: pouched mammals (the marsupials); and the placental mammals. , including humans. People with red hair have a partially active Mc1r gene. Less active versions of Mc1r also produce red or yellow hair in mice, horses and dogs. Precisely what colour mammoths were is unknown. But the experts speculate that lighter animals could have had reddish or yellow hair, and darker ones black or brown. |
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