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The Extinction of the Woolley Mammoth
There have been many theories and hypotheses explaining why the woolly mammoth become
Extinct. In fact there are ongoing studies and research attempting to offer more evidence for the
Different theories. While evidence from the remains and carcasses of woolly mammoths found
Frozen in the northern parts of the globe strengthen the claims of scientists and researchers, other
Methods of knowing the real causes are still elusive. Two main arguments aimed at explaining
These mammals’ extinction continue to be debated. Climate change as the reason for their
demise
Is countered by the theory that human hunting activities killed the species. However, there are
Some hypotheses that the combination of both (climate and hunting) is the cause of the woolly
Mammoth’s extinction. This paper provides the evidence that each theory has gathered to
support It claim
The Extinction of the woolly Mammoth.
The woolly mammoth (Mammoths prim genius) is one of the kinds of mammoth that existed.
This animal is actually
Considered an elephant but in reality it is only a distant cousin of the Asian elephant. Its body
Was covered with hair. Its shoulders were emphatically humped, with a sloping back. The ears
Were much smaller than the ordinary elephants we see today, with a shorter tail. Teeth were
Differently shaped and structured; the trunk was shorter and hairier with a unique projection of
Tusks that can extend to almost four meters long.
Woolly mammoth are known to have types that came from Eurasia and North America. While
The ones from Eurasia are smaller than the later, its structure classified it as a Colombian
Mammoth. Since there are no more woolly mammoth found today, scientist gather their
Information from remains found in Asia, Alaska, the Yukon, and the Bering Sea. Many remains
Of these huge mammals were found in sediments from the North Sea and the North America ice
Sheets.
The woolly mammoth lived in Siberia as well as an expensive area in Ural Mountains to the
Pacific Ocean due to the many remains that have been found. Their population was known to
Have increased as they moved north. In fact more remains of these animals were found in island
Of the Siberian territories. Their existence is also proven by the carcasses found
Washed up in river banks and seashores of the Arctic Ocean.as this evidence was found, scientist
And zoologists introduced many theories on how the woolly mammoth became extinct. The
Theories vary, but the main ones state that the woolly mammoths’ extinction was caused by the
Climate change and human hunting.
It is difficult to extract evidence from the remains of the woolly mammoth. Their carcasses and
Skeletons were numerous, especially in the northern hemisphere and where glaciers existed.
Millions of remains were found buried in Siberian frost alone. It was not only woolly mammoth
Remains were dug up there but other kinds of mammals. According to (Charlton, 2001), most of
They were the grazing kinds of early horses. (Zoo et al 2009, 1388) states that the mystery of the
Woolly mammoth’s death in Bernicia can be explained with the analysis of the sediments that
are
Found near the mammoth and other animals’ surroundings. Most of their remains are buried in
Siberian and Alaska loess. It is assumed that these animals were entombed by dust storms and
Died caved in the silt. The remains offer some puzzling data related with the possibility of \
Suffocation. Many were buried in an upright position and with broken bones.
Climate change.
The environment during these times is the opposite of what Russia has today. The environment
Is usually sub-zeroed winter and ran very hot and boggy during summers. Scientists who are
Studying these historical fossils are in a dilemma over a central theory of how the woolly
Mammoth became extinct after the Ice Age. The climate during the ice age would have been so
Intolerably cold, that it is hard to think the woolly mammoth and other animals could have
Thrived in Siberia at that time. Scientists say that this kind of ideas could not be conclusive.
Therefore, many guesses and theories have been suggested. For example, the creations theorists
Are divided on whether these animals could have thrived in Siberia at that time. Scientists say
That this kind of idea could not be conclusive. Therefore, many guesses and theories have been
Suggested. For example, the creationist theories are divided on whether these animals actually all
Died during the flood (story of Noah in the Bible) after the deluge. Some creations thinkers
Consider the possibility that they were quickly frozen due to the half-digested food found in
most
Of the stomach of frozen carcasses. Yet, some other explanation were offered for this mystery
Within the framework of an ice age that happened after the flood. Still other possibilities were
Offered like astral catastrophes, pole changes, and other out of this world hypothesis seem to be \
Out of consideration. Scientists do not even consider the theory of the quick freeze because there
Is data that disproves this occurrence?
These animals started to die toward the end of the ice age since the climate started to change with
Very cold winters, scorching summers and a totally humid atmosphere. Computer simulations of
The flora and fauna were presented that showed how the Earth become so warm after the last ice
Age that the grasslands that fed the woolly mammoth were almost eradicated and on it grew
Forests. The changing climate had a large impact on the grasslands where the woolly mammoth
Got there food. Because of this, they ultimately died of hunger along with other herbivores. A
Theory that woolly mammoth became extinct due to climate change has been accepted by many
Scientists. Some of them believes that this is the only explanation, while others believes that this
Theory along with being hunted by humans (overkill theory) is a great possibility.
Hunted By humans
It was during the last Ice age that human started to migrate and were also a great threat to
Many animals like the woolly mammal that were slain by spear for their food and clothing. The
Same study conducted by British researchers and scientists disagreed with other earlier studies
That claimed the woolly mammoth became extinct because the human hunted them down. Many
Scholars and scientists who have specialized on this study hold the belief that the woolly
Mammoth’s extinction was due to the predation of the human that began ten thousand years ago.
The Overkill theory
As the population of man grew and scattered across Europe and Asia some forty thousand
Years ago, their hunting skills became more and more advanced. During that time period, the
Population of the woolly mammoth reduced dramatically and then consequently disappeared.
Even in the eighteenth century, scientists have already argued that the reason for this extinction
Was because of human hunting activities. Men over-hunted for food and clothing and it was not
Only the woolly mammoths that were preyed upon but also rhinoceros, mastodons, and bears. \
During that period this was a very popular and favorite hypothesis. However, this was not the
Only assumption offered as to the reason for the woolly mammoth’s extinction.
Climate and Human Factors Combined
Some Spanish scientists pushed the belief that the climate changes and the human hunting
Practices made these animals extinct. This explanation was accepted by many but still some
Complications to the theory cropped up. One is that the woolly mammoths were not the only
Animals that became extinct during that time. In fact there were more than thirty kinds of
Mammals in North America that died together with the mammoths, as suggested in the remains
Found. This included camels, horses, sloths, and mastodons (Stuart et al 2002, 1569).
Because of this evidence, scientists had a harder time thinking that all the mega fauna were killed
By humans. Anthropologists explained that even with the large number of big mammals that
Became extinct during this time, humans hunted and only slew woolly mammoths and the
Mastodons.
The warming of the climate was believed to have caused the extinction of the woolly mammals.
However, these species that are adaptable to the cold climates were able to survive the warmer
Periods. Therefore, many researchers deduced that it was more human-factor that pushed the
Extinction. (Miller et al 2008, 388) wrote that proving these contradicting assumptions have been
Deterred by the barriers in collecting evidences of the combination of both climate and human
Factors as responsible for this extinction. More modern research methods such as simulations
and
Modeling were used to illustrate the possibilities (Oared, 2004).
A combination of climate and factors were considered to be a huge probability of the woolly
Mammoth’s extinction. Estimations on the positions of humans against these mammals were
Dramatized and their interactions illustrated to measure the near possibility that man’s hunting
Activities caused the disappearance. Factors such as climate changes, human pressures for their
Survival, and mix of both are indeed to be blamed. Outcomes of research and studies reports that
A drastic drop in the appropriate and livable climate conditions for these mammals during the
Pleistocene and the Holocene periods, offered the most recent information and evidence about
Woolly mammoths in Asia. The number of remains found backed up the perception that the
calamitous change of climate caused the alarming reduction of the woolly mammoth‘s
Population. This drop in number made these mammals more susceptible to the growing hunting
Expeditions of man whose population grew dramatically.
(Negus-Bravo et al, 2008, 4) explain that if a number had survived the drastic climate change
And the reduction of their prime habitat, it seemed that the woolly mammals were not able to
Escape the human hunters who needed their meat and skin for food and clothing. It was during
The Pleistocene period that Homo sapiens evolved into modern human structure. They migrated
To the north as the Ice Age ended, preying on the wooly mammals as they went along. Towards
The middle part of the Holocene era, the population of the woolly mammoth became so fragile
That even a small part of the hunting activities of man drove them to complete extinction (Haile
Et al, 2009)
Many anthropologists and zoologists hypothesize that with the woolly mammoth number and
Volume, if every man killed just one of these mammals every three years, then the entire species
Would consequently be eradicated. Still, other scientists imply that even one woolly mammoth
Killed every two centuries per human indeed be a cause for the animal’s extinction.
More and more studies were conducted with the aim of providing more evidences to prove and
Disprove one theory from the other. However, with the proofs that had been presented and the
Vast information that many studies has shown, the belief that the climate change and the human
Hunting activities, combined to be responsible for the mammals extinction. As evidence
Continues to be dug and unearthed, they present more convincing data to strengthen this belief.
Many hypotheses also seek to explain the regional extinction of mammoths in specific areas.
Scientists have speculated that the mammoths of Saint Paul Island, an isolated enclave where
Mammoths survived until about 8,000 years ago, died out as the island shrank by 80–90% when
Sea levels rose, eventually making it too small to support a viable population. Another
Hypothesis, said to be the cause of mammoth extinction in Siberia, comes from the idea that
Many may have drowned. While traveling to the Northern River many of these mammoths broke
Through the ice and drowned. This also explains bones remains in the Arctic Coast and islands
of the New Siberian Group.
Dwarfing occurred with the pygmy mammoth on the outer Channel Islands of California, but at
An earlier period. Those animals were very likely killed by early Pale-Native Americans, and
Habitat loss caused by a rising sea level that split Santa Rosie into the outer Channel Islands.
References
Zhao, F., Qi, J., & Schuster, S. C. (January 01, 2009). Tracking the past: interspersed repeats in
an extinct Arthurian mammal, Mammoths prim genius. Genome Research,
Oared, M. J. (2004). Frozen in time: The woolly mammoth, the Ice Age, and the Bible. Green
Forest, AR: Master Books.
Miller, W., Draughts, D. I., Rattan, A., Pusey, B., Qi, J., Lusk, A. M., Tomcod, L. P., ... Schuster,
S. C. (January 01, 2008). Sequencing the nuclear genome of the extinct woolly mammoth.
Nature
Barnes, I., Shapiro, B., Lister, A., Kuznets ova, T., Sheer, A., Guthrie, D., & Thomas, M. G.
(January 01, 2007). Genetic structure and extinction of the woolly mammoth, Mammoths prim
genius. Current Biology