Maize cob from the Ocampo Caves in Mexico dated to 3,890 years before the present. aDNA can reveal the selection of traits during early maize domestication that cannot be observed in the fossil record.
Svante Pääbo, Max Planck Institute
CC BY 2.5
Nicholls H: <i>Ancient DNA Comes of Age.</i> PLoS Biol 3/2/2005: e56. <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030056">https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030056</a>