Rangifer tarandus, better known as reindeer (or caribou in North America), have quite a genetic tale to tell. Even within the deer family, reindeer are particularly unique. While they still run wild in places like this, Rangifer tarandus are the only cervids to have been fully domesticated. In November 2017, researchers in China announced that they had at last sequenced the Rangifer tarandus genome, revealing a new chapter in the reindeer tale. They collected a blood sample from a 2 year old female domesticated reindeer in the Greater Khinghan Mountains of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, and analysed her DNA.

Source: Forbes December 25, 2017 04:07 UTC