Mammoths Were Alive 4,000 Years Ago

[Robert Zwilling]

Wooly mammoths were alive 4,000 years ago on Wrangel Island, 80 miles north of the coast of Siberia. That was when the great pyramids were being built. They had no predators, including humanity, on the island. The climate and diversity of ice age plant life they needed to survive remained constant giving them a sheltered existence.

A small herd of around 10 or less mammoths arrived in the area 10,000 years ago, which was first a peninsula of land, and then became an island. This kept humans and other predators away from them. There weren't any other grazing animals to compete against either.

The herd grew to around 600 individuals and remained stable for 6,000 years. At this time it appears that the herd did not slowly die out but disappeared suddenly. Speculation includes a virus from migrating birds, severe climate change, perhaps a large fire which burned up all the tundra.

Even though there was low genetic diversity, and inbreeding caused inherited conditions, the good environment, including lack of predators, allowed the herd to prosper and overcome their weaknesses. Any particularly fatal diseases were probably bred out by the death of the carriers.

If they hadn't encountered the sudden downfall, they might have made it to modern times.

One take away from the article is that using a small population to rekindle an almost extinct species may need the addition of cloned individuals to provide missing genes to insure a robust genetic diversity to survive the long haul.

 

[Harpo]

Here’s a thread about cloning them

Walking with Mammoths

I just read this: Russian scientists to attempt clone of woolly mammoth Scientists from Russia and Japan are undertaking a Jurassic Park-style experiment in an effort to bring the woolly mammoth out of extinction... If it was April I might have thought it a spoof but it is on the level...

www.sffchronicles.com

And another which is partly about mammoths too

Anyone else worried?

I don't know about you, but I'm worried about the way the world is going. I don't think the Cherry Blossoms bloomed this year. I know how that sounds - like a senile old woman telling you the nurses are stealing her biscuits - but I honestly don't think they did. Now that worries me. For as...

www.sffchronicles.com

 

[Robert Zwilling]

Besides the Wrangel Island mammoths there was a smaller group of mammoths which outlasted the mainland mammoths. They lived on the St Paul, Alaska, island until 5700 BC. Wrangel Island is 93 miles by 50 miles wide. It has a mountain range on it. The St Paul Island is much smaller, 13.5 miles by 7.5 miles wide. It is rocky and hilly with several freshwater ponds The St Paul herd was apparently never over 30 animals and probably less.

The St Paul mammoths also carry a cautionary tale, but this one is directed directly at humans. The island ran out of water because of a changing climate, the ice which fed the lake melted and with no springs on the island the lakes dried up considerably. The rising sea level made the water table also rise closer to the surface, making the land supplies of water shallower. The mammoths ran out of water. The probably dug for water but couldn't find any. Even though we have too much rain at times and overflowing lakes, in low lying areas on or near the coast, a rising sea level will make the water tables shallower, thus decreasing the amount of fresh water that is available.

Cloning mammoths has recently taken a big step forward. The breakthrough discovery of iPS cells allow researchers to obtain pluripotent stem cells without the controversial use of embryos. The adult cells are reprogramed to an embryonic stem (ES) cell-like cell, capable of reproducing cells nearly identical to the original donor. Getting a living, healthy animal using these cells is still a work in progress.

The stem cells to be used for the mammoths are from elephants and still have to be genetically modified to get the mammoth traits. This is a big step in recreating mammoths but all kinds of questions pop up. One plan has herds of mammoth like animals released back into the artic so the mammoths can naturally process and stabilize the land so that the formerly ice covered land exposed by warming temperatures produces less greenhouse gasses and free carbon. One problem with that is that if it continues to warm up, the mammoths may not be able to survive.

Another plan has nothing to do with mammoths and is used to repopulate the world's declining elephant populations. An elephant that is suited for cold weather could be developed to live in the artic regions to stabilize the land.

Some people don't think anything will be gained by repopulating old herds or introducing new herds of animals that are not of the original animals gene line.