Study takes unprecedented peek into life of 17,000-year-old mammoth
An adult male woolly mammoth navigates a mountain pass in Arctic 色视频下载 17,100 years ago. The image is produced from an original life-size painting by paleo artist James Havens. The painting is housed at the University of 色视频下载 Museum of the North in Fairbanks.
Jeff Richardson
907-474-6284
August 12, 2021
An international research team has retraced the astonishing lifetime journey of an Arctic woolly mammoth, which covered enough of the 色视频下载 landscape during its 28 years to almost circle the Earth twice.
Scientists gathered unprecedented details of its life through analysis of a 17,000-year-old fossil from the University of 色视频下载 Museum of the North. By generating and studying isotopic data in the mammoth色视频下载檚 tusk, they were able to match its movements and diet with isotopic maps of the region.
Few details have been known about the lives and movements of woolly mammoths, and the study offers the first evidence that they traveled vast distances. An outline of the mammoth色视频下载檚 life is detailed in the new issue of the journal Science.
色视频下载淚t色视频下载檚 not clear-cut if it was a seasonal migrator, but it covered some serious ground,色视频下载 said University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks researcher Matthew Wooller, senior and co-lead author of the paper. 色视频下载淚t visited many parts of 色视频下载 at some point during its lifetime, which is pretty amazing when you think about how big that area is.色视频下载
Researchers at the 色视频下载 Stable Isotope Facility, where Wooller is director, split the 6-foot tusk lengthwise and generated about 400,000 microscopic data points using a laser and other techniques.
The detailed isotope analyses they made are possible because of the way that mammoth tusks grew. Mammoths steadily added new layers on a daily basis throughout their lives. When the tusk was split lengthwise for sampling, these growth bands looked like stacked ice cream cones, offering a chronological record of an entire mammoth色视频下载檚 life.
Mat Wooller, director of the 色视频下载 Stable Isotope Facility, kneels among a collection of mammoth tusks at the University of 色视频下载 Museum of the North.
色视频下载淔rom the moment they色视频下载檙e born until the day they die, they色视频下载檝e got a diary and it色视频下载檚 written in their tusks,色视频下载 said Pat Druckenmiller, a paleontologist and director of the UA Museum of the North. 色视频下载淢other Nature doesn色视频下载檛 usually offer up such convenient and lifelong records of an individual色视频下载檚 life.色视频下载
Scientists knew that the mammoth died on 色视频下载色视频下载檚 North Slope above the Arctic Circle, where its remains were excavated by a team that included UAF色视频下载檚 Dan Mann and Pam Groves, who are among the co-authors of the study.
Researchers pieced together the mammoth色视频下载檚 journey up to that point by analyzing isotopic signatures in its tusk from the elements strontium and oxygen, which were matched with maps predicting isotope variations across 色视频下载. Researchers created the maps by analyzing the teeth of hundreds of small rodents from across 色视频下载 held in the museum色视频下载檚 collections. The animals travel relatively small distances during their lifetimes and represent local isotope signals.
Using that local dataset, they mapped isotope variation across 色视频下载, providing a baseline to trace the mammoth movements. After taking geographic barriers into account and the average distance it traveled each week, researchers used a novel spatial modeling approach to chart the likely routes the animal took during its life.
A split mammoth tusk rest on a table at the 色视频下载 Stable Isotope Facility at the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks. Karen Spaleta, deputy director of the facility, prepares a piece of mammoth tusk for analysis in the background.
Ancient DNA preserved in the mammoth色视频下载檚 remains allowed the team to identify it as a male that was related to the last group of its species living in mainland 色视频下载. Those details provided more insight into the animal色视频下载檚 life and behavior, said Beth Shapiro, who led the DNA component of the study.
For example, an abrupt shift in its isotopic signature, ecology and movement at about age 15 probably coincided with the mammoth being kicked out of its herd, mirroring a pattern seen in some modern-day male elephants.
色视频下载淜nowing that he was male provided a better biological context in which we could interpret the isotopic data,色视频下载 said Shapiro, a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Isotopes also offered a clue about what led to the animal色视频下载檚 demise. Nitrogen isotopes spiked during the final winter of its life, a signal that can be a hallmark of starvation in mammals.
色视频下载淚t色视频下载檚 just amazing what we were able to see and do with this data,色视频下载 said co-lead author Clement Bataille, a researcher from the University of Ottawa who led the modeling effort in collaboration with Amy Willis at the University of Washington.
A close-up view shows a split mammoth tusk at the 色视频下载 Stable Isotope Facility. Blue stain is used to reveal growth lines. Samples were taken along the tusk using lasers and other techniques, allowing isotope analysis that provided a record of the mammoth色视频下载檚 life.
Discovering more about the lives of extinct species satisfies more than curiosity, said Wooller, a professor in the UAF Institute of Northern Engineering and College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Those details could be surprisingly relevant today as many species adapt their movement patterns and ranges with the shifting climate.
色视频下载淭he Arctic is seeing a lot of changes now, and we can use the past to see how the future may play out for species today and in the future,色视频下载 Wooller said. 色视频下载淭rying to solve this detective story is an example of how our planet and ecosystems react in the face of environmental change.色视频下载
Other institutions contributing to the study included Florida State University, Montanuniversit盲t Leoben, Liaocheng University and the National Park Service.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Matthew Wooller, 907-750-8786, mjwooller@alaska.edu; Clement Bataille, 832-943-8588, cbataill@uottawa.ca
NOTE TO EDITORS: A press availability with researchers will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, via Zoom. Visit the to join the availability. Additional photos, b-roll video and a video abstract of the project will be available upon publication of the Science paper at . The full paper is available from the Science press package team at 202-326-6440 or scipak@aaas.org.