Ancient Squirrels Scavenged Mammoth Meat, Permafrost Poop Reveals

In the frozen margins of the Arctic, where time moves differently and the ground itself becomes a kind of memory, scientists have uncovered an unexpected chapter in the story of ancient life: the droppings of small ground squirrels, preserved for 700,000 years in permafrost, contain DNA evidence that these modest rodents once fed on the flesh of woolly mammoths, bison, and great cats. The discovery does not merely surprise — it reframes how we understand the intricate, opportunistic relationships that sustained life during the Pleistocene, reminding us that the grand narrative of an epoch is o