21. Just When Exactly Did Woolly Mammoths Go Extinct?
Woolly mammoths, scientific name Mamuthus primigenius, are among the extinct species that are better known to science. Paleontologists have not only discovered complete fossils but also recovered entire frozen carcasses of woolly mammoths in Alaska and Siberia. Some of those frozen finds were remarkably well preserved, despite the passage of thousands of years. That enabled scientists to not only recover their fur, skin, flesh, and stomach contents, but also woolly mammoth DNA. Today, scientists are busily reconstructing the extinct pachyderms’ DNA.
Indeed, scientists have made such great strides in the reconstruction of woolly mammoth DNA that we just might be able to someday de-extinct the species and bring it back to life. It is quite possible that, within the lifetime of many or perhaps most people alive today, woolly mammoths might once again walk the earth. But when, actually, did woolly mammoths go extinct? The last ice age ended about twelve thousand years ago, circa 9700 BC. It is widely assumed that woolly mammoths must have vanished sometime around then, if not sooner. What is the truth about that assumption?
