![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Map-showing-the-extent-of-Doggerland-and-surrounding-regions-during-and-after-the-last-Ice-Age.jpg.w.webp\")
Map showing the extent of Doggerland and surrounding regions during and after the last Ice Age. Credit: University of Bradford Submerged Landscape Research Centre & Nigel Dodds<\/p>\n
\u201cBy analyzing sedaDNA from Southern Doggerland at a scale not seen before, we have reconstructed the environment of this lost land from the end of the last Ice Age until the North Sea arrived. We unexpectedly found trees thousands of years earlier than anyone expected \u2014 and evidence that the North Sea fully formed later than previously thought,\u201d said the study lead author Professor Robin Allaby<\/a> of the University of Warwick.<\/p>\n Tree Species Thought Extinct Show Up Again<\/p>\n One of the more surprising findings involves Pterocarya, a forest tree genus believed to have vanished from the region around 400,000 years ago. According to the study in PNAS<\/a>, its DNA still appears in the samples, suggesting it survived far longer in certain isolated areas than previously assumed.<\/p>\n The researchers also found Tilia, or lime trees, appearing about 2,000 years earlier than expected in mainland Britain. This detail suggests that some parts of the region experienced milder and more favorable local conditions, even during periods generally considered harsh.<\/p>\n These areas, often called microrefugia, may help explain how forests spread quickly after the Ice Age, a long-debated phenomenon known as Reid\u2019s Paradox<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Forest Fit for Early Humans<\/p>\n As explained by Professor Allaby, the environment in Doggerland may have been suitable for early Mesolithic communities, with forests supporting animals such as wild boar.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a human perspective, this is the best evidence that Doggerland\u2019s wooded environment could have supported early Mesolithic communities prior to flooding and may help explain why relatively little early Mesolithic evidence survives on mainland Britain today.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Four-stage-reconstruction-of-Doggerland-showing-its-gradual-transformation-1126x1200.jpg.webp.webp\")
Four-stage reconstruction of Doggerland showing its gradual transformation. Credit: PNAS<\/p>\n![\"Dna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DNA-based-maps-revealing-how-plant-and-animal-life-evolved-across-Doggerland-over-thousands-of-years.webp\")
DNA-based maps revealing how plant and animal life evolved across Doggerland over thousands of years. Credit: PNAS<\/p>\n