Mammoth Misfortune

There is a fascinating paper out in PLoS Biology this week, reporting the results of a recent study that used a combination of climate envelope models and population models to analyze the possible reasons for the extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). I highly recommend reading the entire paper, but the main message is that it was an unlucky combination of both climate change and anthropogenic activities that caused the demise of the mammoths. Populations were already stressed by increasingly unfavorable climatic conditions, and so they were unstable and vulnerable to overexploitation. There have been various ideas about factors (or combinations of factors) involved in the demise of this species, but this study used sophisticated analysis and modeling to give strong quantitative support to their hypotheses about the conditions surrounding this unfortunate extinction.

Hmm, megafaunal extinction, caused by natural climate change exacerbated by excessive human impact . . . deja vu, anyone?


Nogues-Bravo, D., Rodri­guez, J., Hortal, J., Batra, P., Araujo, M.B. (2008). Climate Change, Humans, and the Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth. PLoS Biology, 6(4), e79. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060079

(Hat tip to Bora, and image credit)