Genome Study Provides New Insights into Woolly Mammoth Extinction on Wrangel Island Until 2000 BC

Jun 27, 2024, 05:10 PM

A recent genome study has provided new insights into the extinction of the last woolly mammoths. Researchers have sequenced 21 complete genomes from bones and teeth collected on Wrangel Island, an Arctic island, where the last known mammoths survived until around 2000 BC. Despite being inbred, scientists found that a lack of genetic diversity was not the primary cause of their extinction. The study, published in Cell, explores the temporal dynamics of woolly mammoth genome erosion and raises questions about what ultimately led to their demise. Rising sea levels had stranded the mammoths on the island.