The Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth
Lee Rhubin
English Composition II
Instructor J. Kobus
10/25/2010

Abstract There have been many theories and hypotheses explaining why the woolly mammoth became extinct. In fact, there are ongoing studies and research attempting to offer more evidence for the different theories. While evidence from the remains and carcasses of woolly mammoths found frozen in the northern parts of the globe strengthen the claims of scientists and researchers, other methods of knowing the real causes are still elusive. Two main arguments aimed at explaining these mammals’ extinction continue to be debated. Climate change as the reason for their demise is countered by the theory that human hunting activities killed the species. However, there are some hypotheses that the combination of both (climate and hunting) is the cause of the woolly mammoth’s extinction. This paper provides the evidence that each theory has gathered to support its claim.

The Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is one of the kinds of mammoths that existed. This animal is actually considered an elephant but in reality it is only a distant cousin of the Asian elephant. Its body was covered with hair. Its shoulders were emphatically humped, with a sloping back. The ears were much smaller than the ordinary elephants we see today, with a shorter tail. Teeth were differently shaped and structured; the trunk was shorter and hairier with a unique projection of tusks that can extend to almost four meters long. Woolly mammoths are known to have two types that came from Eurasia and North America. While the ones from Eurasia are smaller than the later, its structure classified it as a Columbian mammoth. Since there are no more woolly mammoths found today, scientists gather their information from remains found in Asia, Alaska, the Yukon, and the Bering Sea. Many remains of these huge mammals were found in sediments from the North Sea and the North America ice sheets. (Stevenson 2010). The woolly mammoth lived in Siberia as well as an expansive area in the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean due to the many remains that have been found. Their population was known to have increased as they moved north. In fact, more remains of these animals were found in islands of the Siberian territories. Their existence is further proved by the carcasses found washed up in river banks and seashores of the Arctic Ocean. As this evidence was found, scientist and zoologists introduced many theories on how the woolly mammoth became extinct. The theories vary, but the main ones state that the woolly mammoths’ extinction was caused by the climate change and human hunting.

Woolly Mammoth Extinction It is difficult to extract evidence from the remains of the woolly mammoth. Their carcasses and skeletons were numerous, especially in the northern hemisphere and where glaciers existed. Millions of remains were found buried in Siberian frost alone. It was not only woolly mammoth remains that were dug up there but other kinds of mammals. According to (Chorlton, 2001), most of these were the grazing kinds of early horses. This implies that the environment of the Beringia (the land bridge between Siberia and Alaska) was mostly grasslands and flora. The combination of plants and animals point out that most of the season was not harsh winters. (Uys, 2009) (Zao et al 2009, 1388) states that the mystery of the woolly mammoth’s deaths in Beringia can be explained with the analysis of the sediments that are found near the mammoths and other animals’ surroundings. Most of their remains are buried in Siberian and Alaska loess. It is assumed that these animals were entombed by dust storms and died caved in the silt. The remains offer some puzzling data related with the possibility of suffocation. Many were buried in an upright position and with broken bones.
Climate Change The environment during these times is the opposite of what Russia has today. The environment is usually sub-zeroed winter and ran very hot and boggy during summers. Scientists who are studying these historical fossils are in a dilemma over a central theory of how the woolly mammoth became extinct after the Ice Age. The climate during the ice age would have been so intolerably cold, that it is hard to think the woolly mammoth and other animals could have thrived in Siberia at that time. Scientists say that this kind of idea could not be conclusive. Therefore, many guesses and theories have been suggested. For example, the Creationist Theorists are divided on whether these animals actually all died during the Flood (story of Noah in the Bible) after the deluge. Some creationist thinkers consider the possibility that they were quickly frozen due to the half-digested food found in most of the stomachs of frozen carcasses. Yet, some other explanations were offered for this mystery within the framework of an ice age that happened after the Flood. Still other possibilities were offered like astral catastrophes, pole changes, and other out of this world hypothesis seem to be out of consideration. Scientists do not even consider the theory of the quick freeze because there is data that disproves this occurrence. These animals started to die towards the end of the ice age since the climate started to change with very cold winters, scorching summers and a totally humid atmosphere. There is so much data that disagree with the theory of quick freeze. An explanation offered why there was preserved vegetation found in the stomachs’ of the woolly mammoth remains, States that these animals have a different gastric digestive system that allow them to hold on to food without complete digestion (Barnes et al 2007, 1072). These large animals had to consume 300 pounds. of plant material, mainly grass, and drink fifty gallons of water daily to survive (Agenbroad, & Nelson, 2002). British researchers presented the results of their studies to prove the woolly mammoth and other plants and animals during that time found it hard to survive the climate change that resulted in the total loss of tundra and the growth of forests. Computer simulations of the flora and fauna were presented that showed how the Earth became so warm after the last ice age that the grasslands that fed the woolly mammoth were almost eradicated and on it grew forests. The changing climate had a large impact on the grasslands where the woolly mammoth got there food. Because of this, they ultimately died of hunger along with other herbivores. A theory that woolly mammoths became extinct due to climate change has been accepted by many scientists. Some of them believe that this is the only explanation, while others believe that this theory along with being hunted by humans (overkill theory) is a great possibility.
Hunted By Humans It was during the last Ice Age that humans started to migrate and were also a great threat to many animals like the woolly mammal that were slain by spear for their food and clothing. The same study conducted by British researchers and scientists disagreed with other earlier studies that claimed the woolly mammoths became extinct because the humans hunted them down (Sever 2006, 42). Many scholars and scientists who have specialized on this study hold the belief that the woolly mammoth’s extinction was due to the predation of the humans that began ten thousand years ago.
The Overkill Theory As the population of man grew and scattered across Europe and Asia some forty thousand years ago, their hunting skills became more and more advanced. During that time period, the population of the woolly mammoth reduced dramatically and then consequently disappeared. Even in the eighteenth century, scientists have already argued that the reason for this extinction was because of human hunting activities. Men over-hunted for food and clothing and it was not only the woolly mammoths that were preyed upon but also rhinoceros, mastodons, and bears. During that period this was a very popular and favorite hypothesis. However, this was not the only assumption offered as to the reason for the woolly mammoth’s extinction.
Climate and Human Factors Combined Some Spanish scientists pushed the belief that the climate changes and the human hunting practices made these animals extinct. This explanation was accepted by many but still some complications to the theory cropped up. One is that the woolly mammoths were not the only animals that became extinct during that time. In fact there were more than thirty kinds of mammals in North America that died together with the mammoths, as suggested in the remains found. This included camels, horses, sloths, and mastodons (Stuart et al 2002, 1569). Because of this evidence, scientists had a harder time thinking that all the mega fauna were killed by humans. Anthropologists explained that even with the large number of big mammals that became extinct during this time, humans hunted and only slew woolly mammoths and the mastodons. The warming of the climate was believed to have caused the extinction of the woolly mammals. However, these species that are adaptable to the cold climates were able to survive the warmer periods. Therefore, many researchers deduced that it was more human-factor that pushed the extinction. (Miller et al 2008, 388) wrote that proving these contradicting assumptions have been deterred by the barriers in collecting evidences of the combination of both climate and human factors as responsible for this extinction. More modern research methods such as simulations and modeling were used to illustrate the possibilities (Oard, 2004). A combination of climate and factors were considered to be a huge probability of the woolly mammoth’s extinction. Estimations on the positions of humans against these mammals were dramatized and their interactions illustrated to measure the near possibility that man’s hunting activities caused the disappearance. Factors such as climate changes, human pressures for their survival, and mix of both are indeed to be blamed. Outcomes of research and studies reports that a drastic drop in the appropriate and livable climate conditions for these mammals during the Pleistocene and the Holocene periods, offered the most recent information and evidence about woolly mammoths in Asia. The number of remains found backed up the perception that the calamitous change of climate caused the alarming reduction of the woolly mammoth‘s population. This drop in number made these mammals more susceptible to the growing hunting expeditions of man whose population grew dramatically.
Conclusion
Findings by professionals, experts, and specialists suggest that woolly mammoth underwent a disastrous loss habitat as evidenced by the end of the last Ice Age that warmed the Earth so much for them to survive. The habitat of the woolly mammoths and other animals was lost due to the intense climate change. The prime habitation of the woolly mammoth disappeared so fast that their population had to fight for survival. They had to make do with the smaller patches of grasslands that were found across Europe and Asia, as well as in the coastal areas in the Northern Hemisphere. As disappearance of the woolly mammoth’s habitat would have threatened these mammals, the situation seemed even more serious and critical during the end of the Ice Age. During that time, the woolly mammals must have already suffered near extinction because of the loss of their habitation. Yet, these huge mammals managed to continue with their existence as their population dwindled. (Nogues-Bravo et al, 2008, 4) explain that if a number had survived the drastic climate change and the reduction of their prime habitat, it seemed that the woolly mammals were not able to escape the human hunters who needed their meat and skin for food and clothing. It was during the Pleistocene period that Homo sapiens evolved into modern human structure. They migrated to the north as the Ice Age ended, preying on the wooly mammals as they went along. Towards the middle part of the Holocene era, the population of the woolly mammoth became so fragile that even a small part of the hunting activities of man drove them to complete extinction (Haile et al, 2009) Many anthropologists and zoologists hypothesize that with the woolly mammoth number and volume, if every man killed just one of these mammals every three years, then the entire species would consequently be eradicated. Still, other scientists imply that even one woolly mammoth killed every two centuries per human indeed be a cause for the animal’s extinction. More and more studies were conducted with the aim of providing more evidences to prove and disprove one theory from the other. However, with the proofs that had been presented and the vast information that many studies has shown, the belief that the climate change and the human hunting activities, combined to be responsible for the mammals extinction. As evidence continues to be dug and unearthed, they present more convincing data to strengthen this belief.

References
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