Why did mammoths die?

The vegetation explosion caused by global warming after the Ice Age may have released too much pollen into the air, researchers say. blocked their sense of smell, causing allergic reactions in animals and interferes with normal communication. Not being able to smell each other during the breeding season would prevent the mammoths from finding mates, leading to rapid population decline and eventual extinction. This assumption is detailed in a new article in the journal Earth History and Biodiversity.

One of the possible mechanisms of animal extinction during climate change may be a violation of the sense of smell due to the development of allergies when the flora changes. The aim of this study is to propose a new evolutionary mechanism for the extinction of mammoths and other animals based on the disruption of communication.
– researchers write in the study.

Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) lived during the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago). They disappeared from most of their habitat about 10,000 years ago, but a small population still lived on Wrangel Island about 4,000 years ago, when most of the Egyptian pyramids had already been built.

The prevailing theory today is this: A combination of inbreeding (crossbreeding of closely related organisms), constant hunting by humans, and a reduction in food availability due to significant changes in vegetation caused the mammoths to become extinct. But this is still debated, and many people question how much each of these factors contributed to his death.

The authors of the new paper add even more confusion to the already confusing process of finding the truth about the disappearance of the mammoths. They say animals use their sense of smell to find food and mates, orient themselves during migration, and avoid predators, so losing this important mechanism could truly devastate them.

How to check

One way to check if mammoths suffer from allergies, examining the contents of their stomachs for the presence of allergy-causing plants and pollensMake recommendations to the authors of the new study. Some carcasses found also hold pollen embedded in mummified tissues or preserved plant material around them, which can help identify past irritants.

The researchers then propose to determine whether these chemicals caused an allergic reaction in the mammoths. Look for immune system proteins that the body must produce during an allergic reaction. One of the most important of these is immunoglobulin E (IgE), which is produced in the intestine and then excreted. So examining fossilized mammoth dung, or coprolites, could be a way to find out whether mammoths had severe cases of allergies. To date, there are no published studies investigating traces of IgE in ancient mammal samples.