Humans hastened the extinction of the woolly mammoth:
An international team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Adelaide and University of Copenhagen, has revealed a 20,000-year pathway to extinction for the woolly mammoth.
"Our research shows that humans were a crucial and chronic driver of population declines of woolly mammoths, having an essential role in the timing and location of their extinction," said lead author Associate Professor Damien Fordham from the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute.
[...] Signatures of past changes in the distribution and demography of woolly mammoths identified from fossils and ancient DNA show that people hastened the extinction of woolly mammoths by up to 4,000 years in some regions.
[...] The study also shows that woolly mammoths are likely to have survived in the Arctic for thousands of years longer than previously thought, existing in small areas of habitat with suitable climatic conditions and low densities of humans.
"Our finding of long-term persistence in Eurasia independently confirms recently published environmental DNA evidence that shows that woolly mammoths were roaming around Siberia 5,000 years ago," said Associate Professor Jeremey Austin from the University of Adelaide's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA.
Journal Reference:
Damien A. Fordham, Stuart C. Brown, H. Reşit Akçakaya, et al. Processâexplicit models reveal pathway to extinction for woolly mammoth using patternâoriented validation, Ecology Letters (DOI: 10.1111/ele.13911)
(Score: 2) by RedGreen on Saturday November 13 2021, @05:09PM (2 children)
Humans have been affecting their environment and the things in it for since forever, who would ever thought it possible...
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday November 13 2021, @10:31PM (1 child)
Not just humans. The very first mass extinction was caused by all of the poison (oxygen) some organisms were producing. The asteroid was just the knockout blow, the dinosaurs were already on their knees from insects and disease. It's happened over and over long before humans ever existed.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @04:10AM
There is a possibility that the Great Oxygen Crisis was actually the second mass extinction event, but as Earth's geological record doesn't go back as far as the Late Heavy Bombardment we'll never know.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Thexalon on Saturday November 13 2021, @05:17PM (10 children)
That tasty, tasty mammoth was probably absolutely delicious.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @05:58PM
And the hide from one mammoth could clothe a family of 8 for a year...
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Saturday November 13 2021, @07:20PM (5 children)
Actually more likely it was: who cares what it tastes like, it's made of meat it's ****ing huge, like feed whole tribe for months huge, and it doesn't run faster than us
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Saturday November 13 2021, @07:41PM (4 children)
Sure, although the "it's friggin' huge" aspect of this also makes it a more challenging hunt than going after, say, an-also-pretty-tasty-and-useful mouflon.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @07:56PM (1 child)
Large targets are easier to hit with thrown spears. You don't even need to kill it outright, either, just wound it, run it down, and then kill it when it's too exhausted to fight back. There isn't a single mid-to-large land animal in the world that humans haven't hunted that way. We're classed as an apex predator for a reason.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @08:12PM
...and you don't need to go after the big ones either. The subject is their extinction, and picking off the calves out of habit is a good way to do that.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday November 13 2021, @10:33PM (1 child)
It shouldn't be too hard to scare any dumb animal into falling off of a cliff, or into a deep but disguised hole.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @04:20AM
Or just keep it running until it drops from exhaustion or heart failure. There are plenty of better sprinters than humans, but there aren't any better endurance runners.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday November 14 2021, @03:28AM (2 children)
You know, I hope that they ate the Mammoths after killing them, but I suspect, like most things, the Mammoth genocide was driven by human fear - or annoyance. Fear of them destroying built structures, spoiling food stores, or maybe just simple annoyance with them interfering with farming and livestock maintenance.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Sunday November 14 2021, @09:02AM (1 child)
Actually according to what the archeologists have found Humans back then pretty much used everything they could from what they killed. blood, muscle, and organs for food, sinew and bones for tools, hide for clothing and making shelters. Nothing was wasted. It has been like that for most of Human history. And is still true to a degree today, its just most people aren't as aware of it as they used to be.
The mammoths were not only hunted be every large predator of the time but also had habitat lose due to a changing climate. Like the dinosaurs they were already under threat from the rest of nature. Humans were just another predator that fed on them, Though our intelligence made us a very effective predator so how much blame we carry for the extinction of the mammoths back then is open to discussion.
A question is, did those early Humans realize they were driving other creatures to extinction? Probably not, which is why the extinctions happening today are different, we know what we are causing now and we are still doing it by choice.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday November 14 2021, @04:46PM
Meaning: tiny slivers of inferred evidence about some thing that happened at least once, sometimes a few times. Far from a complete picture of typical daily life.
In times of dire need, which may indeed have been the majority of human history, I'm sure they utilized every last little bit of available resource - until nothing of value was left. You might say we're doing the same thing on a planetary scale today. The question is, how often did humans live on that edge of starvation vs. how often did they have more mammoth meat than they could possibly use and only ate the finest most tender cuts and used the rest as bait for traps, dried it in the sun as trophies, set it on fire for the lulz, etc.?
Really? I mean, if you were in a village with a history of killing mammoths, and they were getting progressively more rare until you only saw one every few years, wouldn't you clue in that killing the rare mammoth might be killing the last mammoth you'd ever see? It's not like they were so ignorant they didn't know where baby mammoths come from.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @06:36PM (4 children)
Mammoths have a natural cycle of extinction and rebirth. Why does everyone insist on blaming MANkind for natural processes??@?
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by choose another one on Saturday November 13 2021, @07:23PM (1 child)
MANkind is always blamed for natural processes, because blaming WYMYNkind gets you in trouble with the feminists.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @03:06AM
If WYMYN were in charge, we would solve this crisis. If the Democratic Party really cared about the environment, Biden would resign. President Harris will get it done.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @08:06PM (1 child)
The majority of species have always been doomed to extinction. In fact there is only one hominid species left. And scientists are worried that it is heading in the wrong direction what with declining birth rates and poisoning of its habitat.
--
Not to mention satanic vaccines and CRT.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @04:36PM
I predict the scientists will go extinct shortly, under predation and the degraded gene pool from East Asia.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @07:00PM (1 child)
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/14/1036884561/dna-resurrection-jurassic-park-woolly-mammoth [npr.org]
That is Unless the humans have hastened their own extinction via the climate crisis
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @07:11AM
You've misposted. martyb's thread is the one after this.
"By 2080, the Planet will be 5% closer to what it's already like in Australia! It will be the Human Extinction!"
-- a rude comment by someone implying Australians aren't Human.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @10:26PM (1 child)
is not Snuffulupegus still living just off Seaseme Street?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @11:47PM
Dunno dude, too busy taking medical advice from Big Bird rather than muppets like Joe Rogan.
(Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Sunday November 14 2021, @02:32AM (2 children)
Do y'all have any idea how much tusks off those puppies would have been worth?
Then there's the skin. Rocking some mammoth leather cowboy boots?
Such an economic loss.
It really is a shame.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @03:01AM
Tusks are easy. You can break its head twice, and if you capture you might get 3 tusks, but a mammoth tusk is only worth 20 points at the melder.
I swear I've killed at least 50 of the things though and not one has dropped the mammoth mantle I need to finish my armor set.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday November 14 2021, @04:48PM
Cow leather boots: $89 and up. Ostrich boots: $780. If mammoths were as common as cows, I bet mammoth boots would be even cheaper than cow boots.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @07:56AM
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