An international research team recovered the oldest DNA samples and used them to show that Greenland was much warmer at some point during the last Ice Age.

The researchers collected the DNA samples from ice cores drilled from a number of locations in Greenland.

From the base of the 2km deep Dye 3 core, they were able to extract what they believe is likely to be the oldest authenticated DNA obtained to date.

The DNA, dated to between 450,000 and 800,000 years ago, may be the oldest yet recovered, is older than DNA found previously in the Siberian permafrost, which was dated to 300,000 to 400,000 years ago.

The research team has analyzed the DNA samples and they identified a variety of plant and insect life, including species of trees such as alder, spruce, pine and members of the yew family, as well as invertebrates related to beetles, flies, spiders, butterflies and moths

"We have shown for the first time that southern Greenland, which is currently hidden under more than 2km of ice, was once very different to the Greenland we see today," explains Professor Eske Willerslev, a Wellcome Trust Bioarchaeology Fellow from the University of Copenhagen, who led the study."Back then, it was inhabited by a diverse array of conifer trees and insects."

Also, the reduced glacier cover in that region means the global ocean was probably between 1 and 2 meters higher during that time compared to current levels.

"If our data is correct, then this means that the southern Greenland ice cap is more stable than previously thought," says Professor Willerslev. "This may have implications for how the ice sheets respond to global warming."