Climate change led to the extinction of the mammoth. The change in temperatures, which at least in the past was more a natural fact, would have led to the disappearance of this fascinating animal species
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himI climate changes led to the extinction of the mammoth. The change in temperatures, which at least in the past was a natural fact, would have led to the disappearance of this fascinating animal species.
In particular it was the woolly mammoth to disappear due to the sharp rise in temperatures after the end of the last ice age. This was discovered by a new study carried out by researchers of the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm who analyzed 88 new DNA samples belonging to the mammoth preserved at the museum, by crossing them with over 200 sets of genetic data.
The result was the most elaborate computer model of the life of this ancestor of the Asian elephant. 88 teeth, bones and fang samples, which made it possible to add new information to the existing data.
For the first time it was possible to make a accurate time travel up to the Pleistocene, to experience first-hand the variations undergone by the animal's population over time. Until now, past genetic studies have concluded that two distinct populations of mammoths had populated permafrost, in Siberia and North America. But not much was known about European mammoth populations.
Using the 88 fossils from the Stockholm museum, Swedish researchers found that about 34 years ago, a distinct Siberian population took the place of the European mammoth population. But that is not all. It also emerged that the population had declined and geographically fragmented approximately 120.000 years ago, during a climatically warm period.
But it is necessary to go back up to 11 thousand years ago to sanction the definitive extinction of mammoths, at the end of a global warm period, which followed the last ice age. At that time, mammoth populations fragmented during the last warm periods, leaving researchers to speculate that the animals became extinct because of the climate changes.
Ross MacPhee, a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, added, however, that this is only a step forward in understanding the mammoth population. Further studies will be needed to better explain the causes of the animal's definitive extinction. Among other hypotheses being examined by scientists, also the excessive hunting by man.
Our hand never fails.
Francesca Mancuso
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