Scientists recovered proteins from the tooth of an extinct rhinoceros found in Canada's high Arctic, dating to between 21 million and 24 million years old, far older than the previous widely accepted protein record of 3.5 million years.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by the original Nature paper and corroborated by multiple independent, reputable outlets (Science, CNN, CBC, Scientific American) with consistent details on age, location, and prior record. [tier=gold indep_score=0.94 clusters=5 claim_tier=exceptional]
Sources
- The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2025, From Medical ... (seed:science_and_space)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09231-4 (corroboration)
- https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/15/science/ancient-protein-rhino-fossil (corroboration)
- https://www.science.org/content/article/record-setting-recovery-ancient-protein-used-identify-extinct-rhino-relative (corroboration)
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-tooth-proteins-rewrite-the-rhino-family-tree-are-dinosaurs-next/ (corroboration)
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/ancient-dna-rhino-1.7581115 (corroboration)