Woolly mammoths died out around 12,000 years ago, except for a couple of populations that were stranded by rising seawater on St. Paul Island and Wrangel Island off Siberia. These small herds flourished for much longer, thanks to plenty of vegetation and no predators. The Wrangel Island mammoths became very much inbred, and they died out around 4,000 years ago, the last of the woolly mammoths.
The assumption was that the Wrangel Island mammoths died from genetic diseases due to inbreeding. One specimen's genome showed multiple disabilities, but is that what killed the last mammoths? A new study released this week suggests not. Scientists analyzed the DNA of 14 Wrangel Island mammoths and compared their DNA to seven mainland mammoths that lived much earlier. While some anomalies were found, they weren't enough to cause extinction. Mutations can arise in a limited population, but those are often eliminated when the affected animal doesn't breed. The scientists conducting the study say that the Wrangel Island mammoths were doing just fine breeding within their small population. When they suddenly disappeared, it must have been from an environmental disaster or a disease. Read about this research that throws a new light on the extinction of the woolly mammoth at Smithsonian.
(Image credit: Lou.gruber)
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