From: "Rich Gauszka" 

DNA from  25 million year old frog is even more empressive

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070215/D8N9RH9G0.html
MEXICO CITY (AP) - A Mexican researcher announced the rare find of a tiny
tree frog completely preserved in amber on Wednesday that he estimates
lived about 25 million years ago.

The chunk of amber containing the 0.4-inch frog was uncovered by a miner in
southern Chiapas states in 2005 and was bought by a private collector, who
lent it to scientists for study.

Only a few preserved frogs have been found in chunks of amber - a stone
formed by ancient tree sap - mostly in the Dominican Republic. Like those,
the frog found in Chiapas was of the genus Craugastor, whose relatives
still inhabit the region.

Biologist Gerardo Carbot of the Chiapas Natural History and Ecology
Institute, who announced the discovery, said it was the first such frog
found in amber in Mexico.

Carbot said he would like to extract a sample from the frog's remains to
see if they contain well-preserved DNA, in order to identify the frog's
species.

However, he expressed doubt that the stone's owner would allow researchers
to drill a small hole into the chunk of amber. "I don't think he will
allow it, because it's a very rare, unique piece," said Carbot.



"Adam" <""4thwormcastfromthemolehill\"{at}the
field.near the bridge"> wrote in message
news:45d4326c$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/826167.html
>
>
> "The wind ruffles the leaves of the date sapling in its planter, and Dr.
> Elaine Soloway quickly shields it. "There's only one plant like this in
> the world, and I'm still worried about it," she says. Methuselah - that
> is the sapling's name - is indeed unique. In 2005, Soloway, from Kibbutz
> Ketura in the Arava, germinated it from a 2,000-year-old date seed found
> at Masada.
>
> For the past two millennia, since approximately the time of the Great
> Revolt of the Jews against the Romans, in 66-73 C.E., the seed lay
> dormant, until Soloway and her team breathed life into it, making it the
> oldest seed ever to germinate.
>
> For two years, the seed was kept in isolation in a plant nursery to
> protect it from the modern diseases to which it would have been
> vulnerable. Now that it is stronger, Soloway is planning on
> transplanting it. "I think it has a future," she says.
>
> Last week, Methuselah underwent chronological testing, using the
> radioactive isotope Carbon-14, which confirmed that the tree grew from a
> seed that lived when the Romans ruled the land. "
>
> You know you're old when you need carbon dating.....
>
>
> BTW given it's the only one around I am refraining from the obvious puns
> wrt a dated date looking for a date.
>
> Adam

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