However, this is not an easy job with ancient populations and when the complete skeleton is not available. (sciencedaily.com)
Support comes from data on a range of organisms, which show an inverse relationship between mutation rate and ancient population size. (sciencemag.org)
Coauthor Juntai Shen of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory adds, «They account for only one percent of the total mass of the bar, but this even more ancient population of stars appears to have a completely different origin than other stars there, consistent with having been one of the first parts of the Milky Way to form.» (sciencedaily.com)