Recent studies have provided new insights into the extinction of the last woolly mammoths, which survived on Wrangel Island until around 2000 BC, approximately 4,000 years ago. Despite being inbred, scientists have ruled out genetic diversity as the primary cause of their extinction. Researchers have sequenced 21 complete genomes and found that small genetic mutations and other factors, such as disease, fire, or climate change, may have contributed to their demise. The mammoths were isolated on the island due to rising sea levels, which cut them off from the mainland, leading to a severe population bottleneck. The findings challenge previous theories that inbreeding alone was responsible for their extinction. Interestingly, these mammoths lived during the time when the Great Pyramids of Giza were built.
How did the last woolly mammoths die? Scientists say not because of inbreeding. https://t.co/IlhCIbTRoV
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
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 🦣
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
Woolly mammoths survived until 2000 BC https://t.co/RTH8uWstO4
New study shows habitat loss was key to woolly rhino's extinction 10,000 years ago. 🌍🦏 Climate change + human impact trapped them in suboptimal habitats. Discover more about this iconic megafauna's demise. #Extinction #ClimateChange #Paleontology https://t.co/aIxPL7QAjG
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/OJpqbFS6JR
World’s last woolly mammoths were inbred, but this doesn’t explain their eventual extinction 🦣🧬 It’s always been amazing to me that mammoths were still running around on Wrangel Island after the Giza pyramids were built… https://t.co/oo07H9ISjI
Genome Study Provides New Insights into Woolly Mammoth Extinction on Wrangel Island Until 2000 BC https://t.co/24aXRxLWEX
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/jd1C35MC1b 🦣
The Last Stand of the Woolly Mammoths https://t.co/VNQ4AqjsvM https://t.co/vD9Pb9VuVh
The World’s Last Mammoths Were Inbred But That’s Not Why They Died https://t.co/AlVIHrB0o6
New Research Casts Doubt on What Killed the Last Living Mammoth https://t.co/m6Ai1osRZb
Woolly mammoths survived on Wrangel Island until 2000 BC! But why did they go extinct? Were they doomed once stuck on the island? We went to Siberia, collected bones & teeth, and sequenced 21 complete genomes. Here is what we found (🧵) Paper in Cell: https://t.co/QOGiibyWT3 https://t.co/Tg3w9erVOS
Genome study deepens mystery of what doomed Earth's last mammoths https://t.co/h0hI6swiVZ https://t.co/tMIaozVUD2
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/fIJUaYk081
About 4,000 years ago, the last woolly mammoth died. Though it was inbred, scientists say this lack of genetic diversity is not what caused the extinction. https://t.co/IlhCIbTRoV
A Piece of Evidence May Explain Why the Woolly Mammoth Disappeared So Suddenly https://t.co/1ciz9UkcuP
Love this story about the last known woolly mammoths on Earth https://t.co/eeUGNlpZAE
When I first read, years ago, that there were mammoths alive when the Great Pyramids were built, I didn’t believe it. https://t.co/fBvGPNetSD
What happened to the last woolly mammoths? How did they go extinct? Online now! the analysis of woolly mammoth genomes allowed researchers to investigate the genomic changes that lead to the extinction of the species’ last surviving population https://t.co/LJXePvxHxb https://t.co/Cjp8eWC93O
Temporal dynamics of woolly mammoth genome erosion prior to extinction 🦣🧬 https://t.co/TzCBDq89cd
🗄️ From the archive: When were the last Neanderthals? Near the Arctic Circle, a group of Neanderthals may have persisted for thousands of years after the rest of their species disappeared. https://t.co/Ekm2BnFGGW