Inbred cause of extinction of mammoths?

Malformations of the cervical spine Indications of inbreeding as a cause of mammoth extinction

03/28/2014

The extinction of mammoths in northeastern Europe around 10,000 years ago has long left science wondering what caused the disappearance of the giant primeval elephants. As possible explanations so far, above all, the overhunting by humans and the climate change at that time were considered.

A Dutch-Belgian research team led by Jelle W.F. However, Reumer from Utrecht University (Netherlands) has now come up with a new theory. After extensive research into fossil mammoth skeletons, evolutionary biologists have come to the conclusion that the cause of mammalian extinction could have been inbreeding.

The scientists took a closer look at the cervical spine of mammalian skeletons and discovered that one third of the late Pleistocene mammoths had malformations of the cervical spine. This increased incidence of cervical spinal syndromes was „probably caused by inbreeding and adverse conditions, such as early pregnancies, in declining, endangered populations“, write Reumer and colleagues in the trade magazine „peerj“. The proportion of corresponding malformations is „around 10 times higher than today's elephants (3.6 percent).“ For the researchers a clear indication of inbreeding, which should have accelerated at the end of the extinction of mammoths at least significantly. (Fp)

Picture credits: TheLibrarian