Skip to content

Nature

Woolly mammoth range dynamics are discovered

by Dave Armstrong 11 Sep 2013
Woolly mammoth range dynamics are discovered

This mammoth sees the winter arrive but many of his species will have died out, after the warmer summers following the last Ice Age drove them north; woolly image; Credit: © Shutterstock

How to imagine the Pleistocene? It was a period when drops in sea-level of up to 100m created land bridges and many Ice Ages enhanced speciation and the biogeographies of well-known animals changed. Extinctions towards the end of the Pleistocene included many large mammals and the major species of human apart from ourselves.

Ancient DNA from this time and more recently, tells us more about the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius than all the others because we have so much data on the DNA and 300 actual specimens that indicate distribution, migration and even the structural change within bone, tooth and tusk.

Genetic change through time is fascinating when it shows recolonisations and sad extinctions. The steppes and the tundra, from Western Europe to present-day Canada, that this species inhabited were a niche-habitat that suited it during the late Pleistocene. This was from 116bkyr to 12kyr (thousand years ago.) At the Western European end of its distribution, there seems to have been quite a lot of genetic divergence from other populations.

Indications are that some North American mammoths made it to Europe in the mid to late Pleistocene and may have survived into the Holocene period and the last European interglacial period, known as the Eemian. Warm conditions then seem to have finished off most of the big guys, 121kya before the present, except for a few northerly extremities (refugia.)

From these refugia, expansion took place across North America by a group containing the mtDNA Clade I lineage, across Central and Eastern Siberia by Clade II and across most of Europe by Clade III. These Clades had been isolated in their refugia for thousands of years but the re-emergence of the Beringian land bridge took place as the last Ice Age bit. It seems to have been used by the American population to cross to the west at 66kya.

Breeding with the Clade II lineage's population can be assumed for 20kyr until the extinction of the latter. At 32kya, the Clade I lineage would have met the Clade IIIs in Europe, but they had disappeared. The Clade I might have been more successful than the other two, as large body size was evident among the Europeans. This could have been a disadvantage, or regional climate change could have simply wiped them out.

Then again, this is the time of the Gravettian culture in Europe. Their earliest remains of 31kya coincide also with cave bear and collared lemming population reductions. What an amazing diet that would have been! It's possible Clade I could have finally gone down under pressure from the humans, but as the authors point out, "this seems less likely as this would not explain how Siberian mammoths could have immediately recolonized Europe, and then survived there for at least another 15 kyr." This leads us on to around 11kya when northern Siberia and NE Europe saw the last mainland Mammothus.

This early Holocene scenario includes little sign of recovery from a late Pleistocene loss of effective female population size worldwide. This species of mammoth had a very dynamic history of rise and fall, coinciding with the Ice Ages and other climatic effects. Reindeer, Arctic fox and polar bear had very similar relationships with their habitats. Somehow, we now have to work out why the refuges of the far north didn't work for this animal as it has for the other species.

We all love the elephant tribe so much, it is sad that this northern woolly species couldn't manage survival just one more time, even if it was only to give us a cultural fillip of a new cuddly mammoth image. Eleftheria Palkopoulou of the University of Stockholm and her co-authors from the Natural History Museum, London, The Russian Academy of sciences, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural sciences and the Royal Holloway University in Surrey, publish their paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.


Trending Eco-Friendly Clothing

Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Love My Planet women's eco-friendly relaxed fit hoodieSize Guide Centimeters 8 10 12 14 16 18 Bust 84 88 92 97 103 108 Waist 66 70 75 80 85 91 Hips 91 95 99 104 109 116 Bust: Measure around the fullest part of...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Penguins Hate Push-Ups men's eco-friendly pullover HoodieSize Guide Centimeters XS S M L XL XXL Height 171 175 179 183 189 195 Chest 86 93 99 104 116 129 Waist 71 76 81 89 99 112 Chest: Measure all round your chest just below...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Lightning Bolt kids eco-friendly long sleeve t-shirtSize Guide Centimeters 3-4yrs 5-6yrs 7-8yrs 9-10yrs 11-12yrs Height 98 112 125 136 147 Chest 60 66 70 75 84 Chest: Measure all around your chest just below your armpits. Height: Your natural height If you fall between...
£18.00
£18.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Union Jack eco-friendly colour tote bagProduct Specification Organic Cotton Tote Bag. Twill Weave (170gsm). 37 x 42 cm (7cm gusset.) Made in India / Designed on the Isle of Wight. Wash Cool, Hang Dry.
£16.00
£16.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Prev Post
Next Post

Eco-Friendly Shop

Women's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Women Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable women’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Men's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Men Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable men’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Kids Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothes for Kids Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable kids clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies and jumpers. Our garments...
Shop Now
Someone recently bought a
[time] ago, from [location]

Thanks for subscribing!

This email has been registered!

Shop the look

Choose Options

Earth Times
Sign up for exclusive updates, new arrivals & insider only discounts

Recently Viewed

Edit Option
Back In Stock Notification
this is just a warning
Login
Shopping Cart
0 items

Before you leave...

Take 20% off your first order

20% off

Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order

CODESALE20

Continue Shopping