Where and when did woolly and tundra mammoths die out? Researchers provide an answer. On Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, northern Siberia, mammoths disappeared roughly 4,000 years ago. An international team from the University of Helsinki, the University of Tübingen, and the Russian Academy of Sciences reconstructed the sequence of events that led to the recent extinction of these ancient giants.
Scientists suggest a combination of isolated habitats and extreme weather events, possibly aided by the early movement of prehistoric humans, that shaped the fate of these creatures.
The study, published in Quaternary Science Reviews, traces mammoth spread across the northern hemisphere from Spain to Alaska during the last ice age, dating from about 100,000 to 15,000 years ago. Warming began around 15,000 years ago, shrinking suitable habitats to northern Siberia and Alaska. On Wrangel Island, rising sea levels isolated populations from the mainland, allowing a small group to persist for another 7,000 years.
The Finnish, German, and Russian researchers analyzed carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and strontium isotopes in a large collection of mammoth bones and tusks from Northern Siberia, Alaska, Yukon, and Wrangel Island, spanning roughly 40,000 to 4,000 years in age. The goal was to document possible dietary shifts, examine mammoth habitats, and identify environmental disturbances that may have influenced their survival.
They disappeared even when conditions appeared favorable
Results showed that the collagen carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures of Wrangel Island mammoths remained stable even as climate warmed about 10,000 years ago. In what seemed to be favorable and stable living conditions, these values persisted until the mammoths vanished.
This pattern contrasts with mammoth populations on the Ukrainian-Russian plains and on Paul Island, where last representatives displayed notable isotopic changes shortly before local extinction. Such shifts indicate environmental changes just before disappearance in those regions.
Earlier genetic studies indicated that Wrangel Island mammoths carried mutations affecting fat metabolism. The current work highlights a clear difference between Wrangel Island mammoths and their Ice Age Siberian ancestors: carbonate carbon isotope values point to distinct dietary patterns, with fat and carbohydrate intake varying between populations.
Experts suggest that Siberian mammoths depended more on fat stores to endure extremely harsh winters, while Wrangel mammoths living in milder conditions did not rely as heavily on body fat reserves, notes Laura Arppe of the Luomus Finnish Natural History Museum at the University of Helsinki, who led the research team.
Why did the last woolly mammoths vanish?
Researchers propose that short, intense events may have driven extinction. Extreme weather, such as rapid icing that coated the ground with a thick layer of ice, could have prevented animals from finding sufficient food. A population already weakened by other stresses could have faced a tipping point after such events, leading to a dramatic decline.
Experts also consider human influence. Evidence suggests humans arrived on Wrangel Island several hundred years after the last mammoth bone was deposited on the island. While direct evidence of hunting is scarce, human activity cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor to the extinction of these isolated mammoth populations.
The study emphasizes that small, isolated populations of large mammals face heightened extinction risk from both environmental pressures and human behavior. A key takeaway is the importance of conserving connected populations to help prevent such losses in the future.
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This research highlights how combining isotopic analysis with paleogenetic data can shed light on how climate change, habitat fragmentation, and human presence interact to shape the fate of megafauna across regions.
For further context, the environment department emphasizes that this knowledge informs conservation strategies aimed at protecting isolated but related mammal groups in contemporary ecosystems.