Scientists have been investigating the extinction of the last woolly mammoths, which survived on Wrangel Island north of Siberia until around 4,000 years ago. Contrary to previous beliefs that inbreeding led to their demise, new research indicates that inbreeding did not cause their extinction. Natural selection purged harmful mutations, suggesting the mammoths were likely affected by other factors such as disease, fire, or climate change. The species had survived a severe population bottleneck and accumulated small genetic mutations, which may have made them vulnerable to these external threats. Two palaeogeneticists have been exploring how they died.
The resurrection of the Woolly Mammoth is a milestone endeavor that not only returns a keystone grassland species, but develops the tools necessary to restore biodiversity on Earth 🦣🌎 @harrison_duran https://t.co/d37EMnOrbk
The Hyperborea of the Last Woolly Mammoths I have a new post on what caused the world's last mammoths to go extinct after the Great Pyramid of Cheops had been built that has NO mention of Joe Biden, other than that Wrangel Island is the size of Delaware: https://t.co/h6aj78ZsDZ
From https://t.co/ZJixaeFi7Z: The Hyperborea of the Last Woolly Mammoths What caused Ice Age megafauna to go extinct? Blaming tough Siberian hunters fits poorly with anti-colonialist (i.e., anti-white) tropes, so climate change or inbreeding is popular: https://t.co/xNqFZ0NiFL
The last population of woolly mammoths did not go extinct 4,000 years ago from inbreeding, a new analysis shows. https://t.co/IlhCIbTRoV
How did the last woolly mammoths die? Scientists say not because of inbreeding. https://t.co/IlhCIbTRoV
Trapped on a hunk of rock in the Arctic Ocean after rising sea levels cut them off from present-day Siberia, the mammoths of Wrangel island were the last of their species to go extinct. Two palaeogeneticists have been exploring how they died https://t.co/qRGnqY5r3S 🦣
What caused the last of the woolly mammoths to die out? Work by scientists to answer this question could have practical implications for ongoing conservation efforts https://t.co/czfam2dvIv 🦣
The world’s last woolly mammoths may have been inbred, but a new study says this didn’t doom mammoths to extinction. https://t.co/IlhCIbTRoV
The last colony of Wooly #mammoths was Isolated on Wrangel Island 10,000 years ago. Scientists can now rule out inbreeding as the cause for their ultimate (and mysterious) extinction. Read more in @CellCellPress: https://t.co/cFk9AaL6EJ @love_dalen @MariDehasque https://t.co/vg8hvEUD6w
Last population of mammoths survived a severe population bottleneck https://t.co/TuvZic8Dl3
Small genetic mutations accumulated through inbreeding may have made the last mammoths vulnerable to disease https://t.co/Hk4CsBtrXn 🦣
Picture a remote Arctic island 10,000 years ago, where a handful of woolly mammoths became stranded by rising sea levels. Despite the risks of inbreeding, they survived for millennia to become the last known mammoths on Earth. https://t.co/qCn5Hu75oe
In-breeding didn't end the last mammoths! 🦣 New study finds natural selection purged harmful mutations. So what really caused their extinction? Disease, fire, or climate change? 🌍🧬 #Mammoths #Extinction #Genetics
Woolly mammoths were inbred, but this cannot explain why they became extinct, say scientists https://t.co/gbBh0o8eZv
The Great Pyramid of Giza was built before the last mammoth went extinct. Repeat: The Great Pyramid of Giza was completed in roughly 2500 BC and the last woolly mammoth died in roughly 2000 BC For over 500 years on planet Earth there were Egyptian pyramids and woolly mammoths https://t.co/jUmdsZ9aq3
The species survived on an island north of Siberia for thousands of years, scientists reported, but were most likely plagued by genetic abnormalities. https://t.co/xz4ED2ZExy
Scientists thought the last mammoths were victims of a ticking genetic time bomb — but new research rejects that theory. https://t.co/IlhCIbTRoV
Freak event probably killed last woolly mammoths, scientists say https://t.co/YfvrclQ8Na