Wrangel Island mammoths

A small population of woolly mammoths survived on Wrangel Island, in the Arctic Ocean, until about 4,000 years ago. The pyramids of Giza were already centuries old by then.

Context

Most woolly mammoths disappeared from mainland Eurasia and North America at the end of the last ice age, roughly 10,000 years ago. A small population survived on Wrangel Island, in the Arctic Ocean off Siberia, which was cut off from the mainland by rising seas. Radiocarbon dates on bones and teeth from the island indicate that they lived until around 4,000 years ago.

Genetic work on these animals has shown a very small population descended from a handful of individuals, and earlier studies suggested harmful mutations built up. A later study found no clear sign that inbreeding caused the end, and the cause of their final disappearance is still unresolved, with proposals including a sudden event such as disease, weather or human arrival.

Wrangel's mammoths were outlasted by few other ice-age giants. By then, the Great Pyramid had already stood for centuries, which shows how recent their end was in historical terms. Another island population in Alaska is thought to have died out earlier, and dates differ between studies, so the 4,000-year figure is approximate.Dating very recent extinctions is difficult because radiocarbon results carry error margins of a few centuries.