Woolly mammoths, the iconic giants of the Ice Age, vanished from Earth roughly 4,000 years ago. While the broader mammoth story likely involved habitat loss due to a warming climate, the demise of the last holdouts on Wrangel Island, a remote Arctic island off Siberia, has remained a puzzle. A recent genetic analysis published in Cell adds another layer of intrigue, suggesting a sudden, unexpected event may have been the culprit.
The study, led by evolutionary geneticist Marianne Dehasque of Uppsala University in Sweden, examined the genomes of fourteen Wrangel mammoths and seven mammoths from the Siberian mainland, their ancestors. This genetic data provided the most detailed picture of the Wrangel Island population’s history.
Previous theories centered on the idea that inbreeding and a resulting “genomic meltdown” doomed the Wrangel mammoths. The island’s isolation, cut off from the mainland by rising sea levels around 10,000 years ago, would have limited genetic diversity. This, in turn, could have led to the accumulation of harmful mutations, weakening the population’s overall health.
Dehasque’s team found evidence to support a period of inbreeding. Their analysis suggests the founding population on Wrangel Island originated from a mere handful of individuals, perhaps as few as eight. However, the story takes a surprising turn. Despite this genetic bottleneck, the Wrangel mammoths rebounded. Within a few hundred years, their numbers swelled to an estimated 200-300, and the population remained stable for millennia.
- RELATED NEWS: Earth’s Whirling Wobble: A Planet on Variable Speed
The genetic data also revealed a decline in diversity within genes crucial for the immune system. This could have made the mammoths more susceptible to disease. However, the study found that the most detrimental mutations were being purged from the population, likely due to natural selection weeding out individuals carrying these weaknesses.
“This suggests that something very sudden caused the population to collapse,” said Dehasque. The healthy population size and the elimination of harmful mutations contradict the theory of a gradual decline due to genetic limitations.
What caused this sudden collapse? The researchers propose several possibilities, including a devastating storm, a disease outbreak, or a shift in food availability on the island.
This new genetic evidence highlights the complexity of extinction events. While habitat loss due to climate change undoubtedly played a significant role in the broader story of mammoth extinction, the demise of the Wrangel Island population appears to be a more localized event with a yet-to-be-identified cause.
Future research may involve looking for evidence of these potential extinction triggers in the island’s environment or further analyzing the mammoth genomes for clues. Regardless, this study underscores the power of genetics in unraveling the mysteries of the past and the delicate balance that can tip an entire species toward oblivion.