The Story Of The Last Mammoths On Earth
The prehistoric mega fauna disappeared from Europe many years ago, and now nothing remains of the rhinos or saber-toothed tigers that populated our lands. Some of these huge beasts, however, survived longer than we think. Do you know what became of the last mammoths ?
Since gigantic bones belonging to what looked like an elephant were found in Siberia in 1978, this species has amazed man with countless surprises. The first frozen prehistoric corpse of one of the last mammoths was found in the nineteenth century, and allowed us to better understand what these animals looked like and biology.
Let’s find out the history of the last mammoths!
What were the mammoths?
When we talk about mammoths we refer to cousins of elephants who appeared on earth five million years ago and lived up to a few thousand years ago. Although there are several species, the woolly mammoth is the best known of all.
The mammoths were not much larger than the African elephants, however there are some record specimens, such as the Songhua River mammoth or the imperial mammoth, which could reach up to 5 meters in height.
Woolly mammoths lived in cold regions and for this reason they had smaller ears than those of the Asian elephant, so as to avoid frostbite. Thanks to the rock representations that date back to the Paleolithic era, we know with certainty that they had a hump or mass of hair on their back.
Why did they become extinct?
After the last glaciation occurred 13,000 years ago, temperatures began to rise and the mammoth’s habitat changed enormously. This factor slowly relegated it to smaller and smaller areas until every ecological corner suitable for its survival disappeared.
We know that humans hunted mammoths both thanks to the remains and rock representations, and thanks to scientific data. A study on the tusks of these animals revealed that the last mammoths that inhabited the planet in the 30,000 years before their extinction gradually reduced the age at which they were weaned.
Curiously, in the case of modern elephants, weaning time has increased due to climate change, while hunting has reduced it. For this reason, it is believed that hunting by different hominids may be one of the main causes of their disappearance.
The human being has often been responsible for the extinction of some animals due to the practice of hunting, just think of the disappearance of giant lemurs or the European bison.
What became of the last mammoths?
In fact, mammoths went extinct later than many believe. Two populations survived until less than 9,000 years ago: those of Alaska and Siberia.
Let’s start with the story of the last mammoths on the island of Saint Paul, Alaska . These animals are known to have survived on the island until the year 6000 BC, an era in which agriculture had already appeared in the Nile valley, when the wheel was used in Mesopotamia and the farming of goats in the Middle East.
Rising temperatures, as well as water shortages and rising sea levels, were instrumental in the disappearance of the last mammoths in Alaska. The progressive disappearance of the vegetation accelerated the erosion and the disappearance of the last lakes. If modern elephants can drink up to 200 liters of water a day, it is easy to think that this was a problem not to be circumvented for mammoths.
However, the last specimens of this species lived a little longer. On Wrangel Island, Siberia, mammoths survived for another 5,000 years after the extinction of mammoths on dry land, coinciding with the arrival of humans on the island. This much more modern era coincides with the construction of Stonehenge, the beginning of dentistry in China or the construction of the first palaces in Crete.
The mammoths of this island probably succumbed to human action. Although no remains have yet been found that prove its consumption, the presence of ivory harpoons and the disappearance of these animals following the arrival of man in Wrangel seem once again to blame us, at least in part, for the their extinction.
