Combining Bayesian age models and genetics to investigate population dynamics and extinction of the last mammoths in northern Siberia

Woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island, Russia, persisted for approximately 6000 years before going extinct around 4000 years ago due to rising sea levels that trapped them on the island. This study combined Bayesian age models using radiocarbon and genetic data from 717 specimens—including 88 new radiocarbon dates—to reconstruct population dynamics and extinction timelines in northern Siberia. Findings indicate mammoths disappeared from the eastern Siberian mainland before the Younger Dryas (12.9–11.7 ky cal BP) but survived in central and western Siberia until the early Holocene. Genetic analysis of 131 mitogenomes, including 22 newly generated, supports the hypothesis that Wrangel Island mammoths originated from or were closely related to populations in central/western Siberia, recolonizing the island via submerged plains before isolation led to their extinction.

Dehasque, M., Pečnerová, P., Muller, H., Tikhonov, A., Nikolskiy, P., Tsigankova, V. I., Danilov, G. K., Díez-del-Molino, D., Vartanyan, S., Dalén, L., & Lister, A. M. (2021). Combining Bayesian age models and genetics to investigate population dynamics and extinction of the last mammoths in northern Siberia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 259, 106913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106913