Last Mammoth Population on Wrangel Island 4,000 Years Ago Disappeared Due to Inbreeding Depression, Purging

Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) are an extinct species of ancient elephants that once roamed the cold environments of Asia, Europe, and Nort America from 300,000 to 10,000 years ago, coinciding with the end of the last ice age or on Earth.

However, the last mammoth population did not end there as some mammoth groups survived for another 6,000 years before becoming completely extinct.

These surviving mammoths made their last stand on Wrangel Island in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Yet, their population also became extinct around 4,000 years ago. Even until the 21^st century, scientists are still not certain as to how exactly the large, tusked mammals disappeared from the face of the Earth. Amid the mystery, various concepts have emerged to potentially answer it once and for all.

Throughout the decades, proposed mammoth extinction theories range from excessive human hunting to prey competition, climate change, and global warming. Recently, a study led by researchers from Sweden and Denmark revealed that genetic inbreeding depression and purging contributed to the extinction of the Wrangel Island mammoths.

These findings provide new insights into the existing theories.

Last Mammoth Population

In the new research paper published in the journal Cell on Thursday, June 27, scientists examined the Wrangel Island mammoths to determine what exactly caused their demise.

This last mammoth population on Earth has been found to make a partial recovery that lasted for more than 200 generations between 10,000 and 4,000 years ago. However, this population rebounding did not last long, the study says.

To address the woolly mammoth extinction mystery, the authors of the research paper analyzed long-term genomic changes from 21 woolly mammoth genomes. Based on the results, there was a severe population bottleneck among the Wrangel Island mammoths when they became isolated starting 10,000 years ago. Eventually, genetic inbreeding depression, and purging led to the group's extinction.

While the new study offers a fresh perspective on the complete eradication of the last mammoths, there is still no definitive conclusion that explains not only the extinction of mammoths on Wrangel Island but also in other parts of the world at that time. In recent years, some reports say that humans are not fully responsible for the wiping out of the global mammoth population thousands of years ago.

Woolly Mammoth Extinction Theories

Novel research about woolly mammoth extinction theories suggests that a combination of anthropogenic and climate change factors contributed to the decline of woolly mammoths. News about this scientific development was posted on Reddit in 2021, which also drew a mixture of reactions from the social media platform's users.

Since 2023, the continued interest in the ancient elephants has gained momentum, leading to renewed efforts to revive the extinct animals. Earlier in 2024, the company Colossal Biosciences announced the anticipated birth of genetically modified woolly mammoth calves in 2028, a story also covered by Nature World News.