DNA Study Finds Ice Age Hunters Killed 70% Female Woolly Mammoths
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Jul 31
DNA Study Finds Ice Age Hunters Killed 70% Female Woolly Mammoths
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Jul 31
Summary
Ancient DNA from 100 mammoths at 11 human bone-accumulation sites showed about 70% were female, versus 34% female among 421 mammoths from natural settings.
Researchers said female-led herds may have followed more predictable seasonal routes, making them easier for nomadic hunters to find repeatedly than solitary roaming males.
Adult females also were smaller—about 4 tons and 9.5 feet tall versus 6 tons and 11 feet for males—and herds with juveniles may have been easier to trap or immobilize in bogs, swamps or near cliffs.
The study, published in Current Biology, examined 521 mammoths spanning roughly 50,000 years; the biggest hunting site, Kraków Spadzista in Poland, contains remains of more than 100 mammoths and evidence of butchery.
Mammoths disappeared from mainland Eurasia and North America 10,000 to 12,000 years ago as climate warmed, while how much human hunting contributed to their extinction remains debated.