Humans and woolly mammoths co-existed for around 2, years, but Eske Willerslev, co-author of the study and director of the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre at the University of Copenhagen, argued there were smaller, easier animals to hunt.
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Willerslev added the research shows not only that climate change was the reason why the mammoths died, but it happened exceptionally fast and they "were not able to adapt quickly enough" when icebergs melted and food was scarce. The finding showing that climate change has impacted wildlife just as human civilization was beginning shows how unpredictable it is, Willerslev said. A recent report by the United Nations said wild weather events will happen more frequently in the future, which could mean animals could experience the same fate as the woolly mammoth, something Willerslev believes can "easily happen again.
While it's been thousands of years since a woolly mammoth roamed Earth, they could make a comeback. A technology company is trying to use gene-editing to hopefully bring the animal back to life.
The Wrangel Island population was the last, disappearing roughly 4, years ago. They pinpointed a collection of genetic mutations in the Wrangel Island mammoth and synthesized these genes in the laboratory to test their functionality.
They found problems with genes responsible for sperm production, smell, neurological development and a function involving the hormone insulin that is responsible for permitting glucose in the blood to enter cells to give them energy.
The sperm production-related mutations may have reduced fertility in an already shrinking population. They were driven to extinction by environmental factors and possibly human hunting about 10, years ago. Small island populations clung on until about 4, years ago. Knowledge of the last days of the mammoth could help modern species on the brink of extinction, such as the panda, mountain gorilla and Indian elephant.
The lesson from the woolly mammoth is that once numbers drop below a certain level, the population's genetic health may be beyond saving. Genetic testing could be one way to assess whether levels of genetic diversity in a species are enough to give it a chance of survival. A better option is to stop numbers falling too low.
Scientists think the genetic mutations may have given the last woolly mammoths "silky, shiny satin fur". Mutations may have also led to a loss of olfactory receptors, responsible for the sense of smell, as well as substances in urine involved in social status and attracting a mate.
Love Dalen is professor of evolutionary genetics at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and head of the team of scientists that originally published the DNA sequences of the mammoths.
He said they found "many deletions, big chunks of the genome that are missing, some of which even affected functional genes".
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