Woolly Mammoth Gene Study Changes Extinction Theory
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 18:21
in Biology & Nature
A large genetic study of the extinct woolly mammoth has revealed that the species was not one large homogenous group, as scientists previously had assumed, and that it did not have much genetic diversity. The discovery is particularly interesting because it rules out human hunting as a contributing factor, leaving climate change and disease as the most probable causes of extinction.