# The Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth: A Comprehensive Environmental Science Report

## Introduction

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) represents one of the most iconic examples of megafauna extinction at the end of the Pleistocene epoch.

Understanding the factors that led to their disappearance provides crucial insights into species extinction dynamics and human impact on prehistoric ecosystems.

This report examines both environmental and anthropogenic factors that contributed to the mammoth's extinction.

## Environmental Factors: Climate Change and Habitat Transformation

### Climate-Driven Habitat Loss

Research published in Nature (2021) demonstrates that climate change was the primary driver of woolly mammoth extinction.

As the last ice age ended approximately 11,700 years ago, global temperatures rose significantly, leading to dramatic changes in Arctic ecosystems.

The mammoth's natural habitat - the mammoth steppe - consisted of open grasslands that disappeared as the climate warmed.

### Ecosystem Transformation

Professor

# The Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth: A Comprehensive Environmental Science Report

## Introduction

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) represents one of the most iconic examples of megafauna extinction at the end of the Pleistocene epoch.

Title:

Content: Cave lions in Europe and mammoths in the United States.
Scientists have told what the Earth would be without Homo sapiens
The researchers say that in general, the planet could be an exciting place, which would be inhabited by representatives of megafauna.
Scientists believe that without humans, the Earth would be a more wild and fertile place, in which giants such as ostrich moa birds with a height of 3.6 meters still lived.
They lived in New Zealand for millions of years, but disappeared 750 years after their land was invaded by man, writes LiveScience.
The vanished giant moas and eagles of Haast, whose wingspan was 2.6 meters or more, are a small example of how human activity has changed the planet.
The survival of such large animals is crucial in thinking about what the Earth would be like without humans, as such giants have a crucial influence on landscapes.
Senior lecturer in zoology at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, Seren Forby, says humans have played a crucial role in the extinction of many large mammals.
Forby led the study, published in the journal Diversity and Distributions.
It said that without humans, the Earth would resemble an ecoregion in East Africa, the Serengeti, teeming with life.
In such a scenario, extinct animals, along with elephants, rhinos and lions, would live throughout Europe.
For example, the African lions (Panthera leo) would still be replaced by cave lions (Panthera spelaea), a larger species that lived in Europe about 12,000 years ago.
At the same time, America would be home to larger relatives of elephants and bears, as well as unique species such as the glyptodon – car-sized armadillos and giant sloths.
“In a world without humans, there would be a lot more different species of large mammals, as well as a much more open habitat, ” says Forby.
Elephants or other species of large animals do not tolerate obstacles in their search for food.
In such cases, the territory acquires a less wooded appearance.
The world would be brighter
During the last Pleistocene Ice Age (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago), the Earth was rich in megafauna.
Much of it went extinct after the end of this ice age or millennia later.
A 2021 study from the journal Nature found that climate change had wiped out woolly mammoths as well as other Arctic megafauna, but humans also put additional pressure on these species by hunting them.
Christopher Doughty, an ecologist at the University of Northern Arizona, modeled how large animals, among other things, affected ecosystems by moving seeds and nutrients during eating and defecating.
The expert found that the movement of elements such as phosphorus, calcium and magnesium, which play a crucial role in life, decreased by almost 90% along with the disappearance of megafauna.
The researcher emphasizes that without human intervention, all the necessary elements would be evenly distributed throughout the landscape.
Thus, the soil would be more fertile and productive.
Agriculture and zoning make land less fertile compared to systems in the wild.
Such increased fertility means that the Earth would be much richer in crops and colors, the planet would definitely be brighter without humans.
Without humans, the climate would be different.
Human induced global warming is known to have raised the average temperature by 1 degree Celsius since the early 20th century.
Consequently, the weather on the planet would be cooler without humanity.
A 2016 study in the journal Nature found that current warming delayed the onset of the ice age by at least 100,000 years.
But this should not have happened for another 50,000 years, so it is unlikely that without humans there would be another ice age on Earth right now.
People are inevitable
Modern humans (Homo sapiens) were not always the only hominins on the planet.
The disappearance of Homo sapiens could open up new perspectives for Neanderthals.
There is no single answer to the question of why the Neanderthals died out about 40 thousand years ago.
There were probably several reasons for their disappearance, and Homo sapiens are the main suspects.
Professor Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum in London believes that the competition between Neanderthals and humans was one of the reasons for the disappearance of the former.
“If Homo sapiens hadn ’ t come to Europe about 45,000 or 50,000 years ago, I think Neanderthals and their descendants would still have lived on Earth, ” Stringer says.
The expert notes that Neanderthals led a complex life in Europe, they faced climate change, were a small group with low genetic diversity.
“Neanderthals probably were already in distress when modern humans came to their lands, and this factor could be the last, ” the expert notes.
But humans could have influenced the survival of more than just Neanderthals.
At least there is another relative of Homo sapiens who shared land with humans and Neanderthals: the Denisovans.
This line is closer to Neanderthals than to modern humans in terms of genes and appearance.
Judging by a number of studies, people interbred with Denisovans, because modern people continue to find the DNA of Denisovans.
It is assumed that Denisovans had a wider range of habitat than Neanderthals.
They may also have more genetic diversity than Neanderthals.
"Perhaps the Denisovans were even better species for survival than the Neanderthals," Stringer said.
In general, Denisovans and Neanderthals could pave the way similar to H. sapiens, moving from hunting and gathering to the development of agriculture.
"There is no obvious reason why Neanderthals or Denisovans would not have evolved if they had the time to do so," he said.

from 300,000 years ago up until 10,000 years ago

When did the wooly mammoth mostly become extinct?

Understanding the factors that led to their disappearance provides crucial insights into species extinction dynamics and human impact on prehistoric ecosystems.

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Content: Skip to content

This is how many bird species humans have already wiped out

Far more than previously known

This is how many bird species humans have already wiped out

The more humans spread across the earth, the more animal species disappeared - this also applies to birds. According to an international research team, bird extinctions have occurred in three major waves. We are currently in the third wave and it is affecting more regions than before.

The dodo on Mauritius, the giant auk in the North Atlantic or the St. Helena's hoopoe on the island of the same name in the South Atlantic: according to a study, mankind has wiped out around 1,400 bird species over the past millennia or at least contributed significantly to their disappearance. This corresponds to almost 12 percent of today's approximately 10,900 bird species, writes an international research team in the journal "Nature Communications". The bird extinction occurred in three major waves and mainly affected islands.

The spread of humans beyond Africa has led to the disappearance of many animals worldwide over the past tens of thousands of years. In addition to large mammals, birds were particularly affected - especially on island groups. In addition to hunting, the specific causes were primarily the destruction of habitats such as forests as well as various human bring-alongs, as the team led by Rob Cooke from the University of Gothenburg writes. Examples include dogs, rats and pigs.

It is not known how large this bird mortality actually was because many species have disappeared without a trace. Cooke's team estimated the extent of this loss by first concentrating on the lost bird world of New Zealand, which has been excellently studied and whose existence is evidenced by many fossils. The research team then compared the data with 69 archipelagos with a total of almost 1,500 islands and used it to create models of how many species of extinct birds could have remained undiscovered worldwide.

Disappearing without leaving a trace

According to the results, around 1300 to 1500 species disappeared over the millennia - 55 percent of them without leaving a trace. Of the 640 extinct species of which there are fossil finds, 90 percent are island dwellers. In contrast to species on the mainland, these have fewer places to retreat to. Most species - an estimated 61 percent - disappeared in the Pacific region.

The team names the 9th century BC as the first major wave of bird extinction. At that time, the first humans reached many islands in the Western Pacific, including the Tonga and Fiji archipelagos and the Mariana Islands. The Canary Islands were also colonized at this time. Researchers date the second, much more intense wave to the 14th century AD. At that time, people opened up many island groups in the Eastern Pacific, such as Hawaii and the Marquesas, but also the islands of New Zealand.

New threats lead to rapid decline

"The arrival of humans along with their pets (pigs, dogs, chickens) and Pacific rats, which were brought over with them, brought a change in habitat and new threats to the native bird world, which led to a rapid decline in bird species," it says. These included nine species of moas (Dinornithi), large ratites in New Zealand, the Lori parrot species Vini sinotoi in the Marquesas and the corvid Corvus impluviatus in Hawaii.

The third wave - the current bird extinction that has been ongoing since the 18th century - affects many different regions and is associated with the destruction of habitats, environmental pollution and the introduction of invasive species, the group continues.

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Source: www.ntv.de

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World Environment Day: If climate change does not stop, more than 3 million people will die every year

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-Seema Javed-

as on earth green house gas Emissions are increasing, the pace of climate change is accelerating. Populations around the world are being severely affected by extreme weather and climate change events. For example, in 2022, persistent drought in East Africa, record-breaking rains in Pakistan, and record-breaking heatwaves in China and Europe affected hundreds of millions of people. Because of which problems like threat to food security and mass migration came to the fore.

Big threat to the creatures of the earth

A study published in the journal Nature states that we are posing a great risk to our future and to every living organism on earth. Global warming has increased to such an extent that there has been a threat to the species of many organisms. This study group, called the Earth Commission, which includes more than 40 scientists from all over the world, has concluded that melting of glaciers, excessive carbon dioxide dissolved in ocean water i.e. ocean acidification, heat wave, floods and droughts can cause climate change. It is full of hallmarks.

India heatwave victim

India and Pakistan have been suffering from heatwaves for the last few years due to which human population had to face massive hardships and it has also affected the supply of wheat globally. According to a rapid attribution analysis conducted by an international team of the world’s leading climate scientists, the likelihood of such a severe heatwave has increased nearly 30 times due to climate change caused by harmful human activities. If the situation remains like this, then the day is not far when in the next few years, 2.40 billion of the world’s population of about eight billion will be facing severe water crisis. Antarctic sea ice has melted to record levels and the melting of some European glaciers is beyond count.

1.2 billion climate refugees by 2050

According to the WMO State of the Global Climate Report 2023, dangerous climate and weather-related events promoted the displacement of people throughout the past year. According to a World Bank report, by 2050, climate change could prompt 216 million people to migrate from one place to another within their own countries. By 2050, there could be 1.2 billion climate refugees in the world.

Many animal species on the verge of extinction

A new study in Nature Ecology and Evolution, led by UCL Research, has revealed that due to climate change, many species of animals, plants, animals and birds on earth are being pushed towards sudden extinction. These species can suddenly die when global warming rises up to 2.5 degree Celsius. They are unable to thrive in such a hot environment and are getting destroyed. The team analyzed data from more than 35,000 species of animals (including mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, corals, fish, whales and plankton), seagrass data from every continent and 2100 climate projections including ocean basins.

There will be more than 3 million deaths every year

According to the Lancet Countdown 2022, if climate change is not stopped, by the end of this century, 3.4 million more people (in addition to the current deaths) will die every year. In such a situation, the latest synthesis report of IPCC warns us that climate change is not only a threat to humans but also to the welfare of the entire planet. This report tells us that we are standing very close to an increase of one and a half degree Celsius in global temperature and this increase is not safe for our planet and the people living here.

(The author is an environmentalist)

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Content: Remembering Edward O. Wilson, a conservation advocate who studied ant colonies

4 hours ago
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

DAVE DAVIES, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. Edward O. Wilson, a pioneer in the field of evolutionary biology and a staunch conservation advocate, died Sunday in Burlington, Mass., the day after Christmas. He was 92.

Wilson did extensive research on ants. He developed original ideas on the evolution of behavior, exploring how natural selection could influence the development of the complex cooperation he observed in ant colonies. Wilson was a professor at Harvard and a prolific writer. Two of his books won Pulitzer Prizes. Terry spoke to Wilson in 1994 after the publication of his book "Journey To The Ants."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

TERRY GROSS: In your new book "Journey To The Ants," you have these fantastic blown-up photographs of ants. This is how ants look, I guess, under a microscope, you know, if you enlarge them thousands of times. And in these enlarged photographs, the ants look a lot, to me anyways, like dinosaurs. They have dinosaur-type faces, and their little antennae look like horns coming out of the head. They look quite prehistoric to me. And in fact, the ants date back to the dinosaur era. So is that why they look the way they do?

EDWARD O WILSON: Well, not just - it's not their great age, I think it's the fact that they have external skeletons. We are typical mammals in that we have an internal skeleton, and our tissues right out to our thin, soft skin are added like padding onto that internal skeletal structure. But insects, including ants, have it the other way around. They have their skeleton on the outside, and they have all that soft tissue on the inside.

Ants are - belong to an evolutionary line that diverged from our own half a billion years ago, and they achieved the - numerous adaptations to the world, including their social organization, in a way that's radically different from our own. So look at them as inhabitants, if you will, of another planet.

And this difference includes - to come quickly to the point of what I see in them as a scientist who works on them - includes their near-total reliance on chemical communication. And here, they are really radically different from us. We are audio-visual creatures. We should realize that our dependence on sound and sight to get through the world and to communicate with one another is really rather exceptional in the animal world. And the ants are much more typical in being chemical. That is to say, they release substances, chemicals, secretions from all over their bodies. They have special glands to - for this purpose that then they pass back and forth. They taste, they smell, and it's with different chemicals that they actually are able to communicate with one another rapidly and in a sophisticated manner. For example, there are chemicals they release to alarm one another saying there is an enemy near.

GROSS: You did an experiment on the chemical an ant gives off when the ant has died that communicates to the other ants that the ant is dead and needs to be carried out of the ant nest. Tell us about the experiment.

WILSON: When an ant dies, it - just like any other dead thing, it crumples up. It may be lying on its back, but it's not noticed by the other ants rushing by it inside the nest as we would notice it because we're visual. And the ants in the nest wait until the corpse begins to decay. And after two or three days, it's full of substances that are - you find in a corpse, you know, all of these unpleasant things like trimethylamine and skatole and fatty acids and so on. And it occurred to me - this is - we're talking back in the '50s during the early days of working out the chemical language events. It occurred to me that ants probably having small brains not being able to process very much information depended not on all that array of charnel house smells but probably zeroed in on a distinctive smell. And so it proved. I got this in synthetic form many of the chemicals that are found in corpses. My laboratory was unbearable to visitors for weeks during those experiments.

GROSS: (Laughter).

WILSON: And I tried them one after the other on ants that I had in the laboratory and finally hit upon the astonishing discovery that, indeed, ants identify a corpse with oleic acid. When you dob oleic acid, pure oleic acid, on a piece of paper or a live ant from that nest, it's treated as a corpse. And I amused myself and students for years afterwards by putting oleic acid on live ants and watching them be picked up by their nest mates and carried out and dumped on the refuse pile where corpses are placed. Then the ants had to, of course, pick themselves up and try to clean themselves off and get back into work inside the nest. But if they didn't get enough of that oleic acid off, then they would be picked up and dumped in the corpse pile again. And this kept on until finally they got clean enough to rejoin the living. That's sort of the night of the living dead.

(LAUGHTER)

GROSS: Were you able to analyze whether the living dead ants could do anything to protest being carried off?

WILSON: Nothing whatsoever because, you see, there's nothing in the natural world that adds something like oleic acid to the body of ants. And ants are magnificently programmed to do certain things with great efficiency and speed. But there are many things they're not programmed to do because there's never been any occasion in their evolution for them to do it.

GROSS: What would happen to the world if all the ants were to magically disappear?

WILSON: Terrible things. Let me preface my response by saying that, of course, we will do everything in our power to save the human species. That is the entire meaning of our own lives. But if the human species were to disappear from the Earth, the Earth would go on unperturbed. In fact, the ecosystems of the world would regain their previous equilibrium. And short of some great meteorite strike, the planet could count on another billion years or so of undisturbed evolution amidst great biological diversity. But if ants, these little despised creatures at our feet, were to disappear, because they are such vital parts of the ecosystem on which the turning of the soil and the removal of dead animals and the predation on other kind of animals and so on is vital, if they were removed, then we would see a partial collapse of the ecosystems on the land. Probably many thousands of other species would become extinct. Soon after, would - many plants would go extinct and so on. There would be a major reorganization and a depauperization of the land ecosystems. The world would suffer if it lost an important group like the ants.

DAVIES: Biologist Edward O. Wilson speaking with Terry Gross in 1994. Wilson died the day after Christmas. He was 92. On tomorrow's show, we talk about one of America's most popular conservative commentators, talk radio host Dan Bongino, and how he's trying to build a right-wing media infrastructure in time for the midterm elections. Our guest will be Evan Osnos, who profiles Bongino in the current issue of The New Yorker. I hope you can join us.

(SOUNDBITE OF URI CAINE'S "TEU CHAMEGO")

DAVIES: Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Heidi Saman, Therese Madden, Ann Marie Baldonado, Thea Chaloner, Seth Kelley and Kayla Lattimore. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. For Terry Gross, I'm Dave Davies.

(SOUNDBITE OF URI CAINE'S "TEU CHAMEGO") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Content: How the Amazon rainforest could become a savannah
07:34 - Source: CNN

Editor’s Note: Lydia Strohl is a freelance writer in Washington, DC. More of her work can be found here. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author. View more opinion at CNN.

CNN  —

When I first learned that October 22 marks Half-Earth Day, I thought it was because the date is six months to Earth Day. (True.) But it’s got a message all its own.

Half-Earth is the notion that for humans to survive, we must retain earth’s waning biodiversity by reserving half the planet for nature, stabilizing large swaths of ocean, prairie, rainforest and desert to house the birds, insects and ecosystems that affect the water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe. Not to mention the economies, cultures and past-times that sustain us.

The Half-Earth Project was inspired by legendary Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson, who died in 2021 at the age of 92. In “Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life,” Wilson wrote: “We would be wise to find our way as quickly as possible out of the fever swamp of dogmatic religious belief and inept philosophical thought through which we still wander. Unless humanity learns a great deal more about global biodiversity and moves quickly to protect it, we will soon lose most of the species composing life on Earth.”

This means us, people, who Wilson calls a “lucky accident of primate evolution during the late Pleistocene.”

Not a particularly happy accident, perhaps, for Planet Earth. Since 1970, the global population has doubled to nearly 8 billion. And in those five decades, monitored wildlife populations have declined by an average of 69%, warns the recent Living Planet Report, World Wildlife Fund’s study of the abundance of species worldwide (select vertebrate species; others are difficult to track). Freshwater populations have been hit the hardest, declining 83% over this time period. One million plant and animal species, out of the estimated 8 million out there, are in danger of extinction.

It is time to change our ways, from using to stewarding earth’s resources. People cannot thrive at the expense of nature. Latin America has seen a whopping 94% decline in species populations. Meanwhile, deforestation for crops and cattle, legal and illegal mining and logging, development, and devastating wildfires have contributed to a 20% loss of the Amazon rainforest – an area the size of France. This doesn’t just affect the 350 indigenous communities and untold species of plants, animals and insects living there, but all of us, as the 400 billion trees that make up the Amazon rainforest produce an estimated 6% of earth’s oxygen.

What makes humans more comfortable on earth now threatens the planet: energy, food production, growth in housing and commercial development. These are all systems Wilson believed we need to rethink. But just as the problem lies with us, so does the solution.

To move people to action, Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy, thinks it’s important to talk about what matters to them, citing health care, clean air and jobs. Morris spoke at a recent Half-Earth Day conference hosted by Smithsonian Institution and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, bringing together government, community, corporate and conservation stakeholders like The Nature Conservancy, Audubon, and supporters like the Bezos Earth Fund. “Governments aren’t going to move until people move,” Morris said.

The problems are thorny, however: even high-minded efforts can provoke Mother Nature. “The biggest threat to forests in Virginia is solar,” Morris said, referring to clean energy projects slated to take out thousands of acres of trees. “We can be smart where we put solar and wind … in a way that doesn’t undermine biodiversity,” Morris added.

The Half-Earth Project looks at growth through the lens of nature, with tools that map richness and rarity in wildlife populations as well as human pressures and existing protections, hoping to inform both preservation and development. I dial their online map down to my community, close to the screaming orange urban mass of Washington, DC, but dotted with green conservation areas established by both public and private authorities.

The E.O Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory – located in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, which was once decimated by civil war and other human ills – provides a blueprint not only for rebuilding biodiversity but also training new biologists and conservationists. The Half-Earth project also involves indigenous communities – which have traditionally balanced human needs with nature – in their programs, bringing together past and present, to work together towards a durable plan for our future.

While the first Earth Day took place in 1970 to celebrate conservation efforts, Half-Earth Day is more of a caution. Whatever your beliefs on climate change, this much is clear. We’re losing whitetip sharks and harpy eagles, the inspiration for ‘Fawkes’ in the Harry Potter films. Gone are the Bramble Cay melomys, a small rodent whose habitat, food source and nesting sites were eradicated by storms and unprecedented flooding. You may never see a pink dolphin, but the interplay of plant, animal and insect species sustains us.

Attacking a problem of this scale requires all of us – from those seated in governments and board rooms to our own kitchen tables – to come together. Too often, “solutions” whipsaw between administrations with their own political agendas. “Meanwhile, we thrash about, appallingly led, with no particular goal in mind other than economic growth, unfettered consumption, good health, and personal happiness,” Wilson wrote. He placed his faith in nature, and we should too.

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    “We need to listen to what the birds are telling us. We’ve lost three billion birds in my lifetime,” says Audubon CEO Elizabeth Grey, who is in her 50s. “Birds are sentinels for healthy land and water – if birds are in trouble, people are too.”

    The canary is singing. Listen, before its voice is stilled.

Title:

Content: Specialists of the University of California have established some details of the Great Permian extinction.
As noted, this extinction occurred about 252 million years ago.
At that time, almost all marine species disappeared on the planet, as well as many terrestrial species.
According to experts, the main reason for this extinction is the long volcanic eruptions in Siberia.
So, they lasted several hundred thousand years, which led to the saturation of the atmosphere with carbon dioxide.
As a result, the light of the Sun almost ceased to reach the surface of the planet.
In a new study, scientists found that the extinction was also affected by uncontrolled flowering plants.
As a result, the microbes began to absorb oxygen and produce toxins.
As a result, all the bodies of water on the planet stopped in a toxic “soup ”.
Algal blooms have been affected by large greenhouse gas emissions and elevated temperatures, as well as large amounts of nutrients.
In addition, when animals that feed on algae began to die, there was no one to restrain their growth.
Recently, experts told about five mass extinctions that occurred on the planet.
The Permian extinction is only the third in Earth ’ s history.
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Konstantin Sivkov: Russia and China can respond to AUKUS by creating their own alliance
The new military-political bloc poses a threat to Russia, but it was mainly created to put pressure on China.
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British company Babcock presented a model of a large missile boat for the Ukrainian Navy
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Content: The cause of the death of the dinosaurs was established by scientists millions of years later
Researchers developed a new simulation that used more than 300,000 different scenarios to find out the truth.
According to a new study by scientists from the University of Darmuth, it was long believed that the dinosaurs were destroyed by an asteroid, but new data suggest that the real cause of their extinction could be the activity of Indian mega-volcanoes "Deccan traps".
According to the Daily Mail, the simulation, based on geological and climatic data, confirmed that emissions of gases from these volcanoes, including carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, could cause serious climate change and the death of many species of animals, including dinosaurs.
However, some scientists still doubt this theory, and the scientific community has not reached a consensus on this.
Despite the resulting research, there are scientists who continue to doubt that Indian mega-volcanoes were the true cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs.
This means that the question of what exactly was the main cause of the death of these ancient creatures is still open and requires further research and discussion among the scientific community.
Overall, the new study offers an interesting alternative hypothesis about the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs, but it may not be an immutable truth.
Before research, scientists always face different points of view and opinions.
In this case, despite the data presented, some scientists continue to doubt that it is the Indian mega-volcanoes that are the main cause of the extinction of dinosaurs.
This disagreement shows that further research and discussion is needed to arrive at a definitive conclusion.
Undoubtedly, the new results of the study present an interesting and well-founded alternative hypothesis about the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs.
However, it is necessary to continue research and discussion in the scientific community in order to obtain more evidence and reach consensus on this issue.
Scientific research is always subject to constant revision, and new data and arguments can change the perception of past events.
Therefore, it is important to continue research and discussion to get a more complete picture of what led to the extinction of dinosaurs and other ancient creatures on Earth.
Also, studies have shown that dinosaurs began to die out long before the fall of the asteroid.
Author of the material
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Content: The sixth mass extinction on Earth begins.
Warning of "devastating" negative effects on humans
2023-09-24 | 04: 45
Alsumaria News - Miscellaneous
In a new study, researchers warn that the sixth mass extinction on Earth has already begun and is accelerating dramatically, noting that the rate of extinction among animals will be significantly higher than it has historically been, adding to similar studies that warned that the Earth is not in good shape.
The new study, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said the study is important because it sheds more light on how humans affect Earth's trajectory, usually negatively.
According to the study, animal species will be extinct at a rate 35 times faster than historically recognized during the past million years, and the researchers highlighted the role of humans in this phenomenon, noting that animal species that became extinct during the past 500 years would have taken about 18,000 years to extinction in the absence of humans.
But habitat destruction, illegal trade, and climate disruption will likely continue to accelerate the pace of extinction over the next decades.
Gerardo Ceballos, the lead author of the study, says that the mass loss of animal species means the loss of a record of the Earth's evolutionary potential and history, adding that "there is life on this planet thanks to plants and animals, including wild animals and plants, and the ecosystem that forms them."
Ceballos noted that the crops used by humans, the combination of atmospheric gases that make the Earth habitable, and the active compounds used in medicines all depend in one way or another on plants and animals, and that when we lose whole branches of species, “we lose the planet ’ s ability to sustain life in general, and save life in particular. ”
The new research builds on a number of studies that have warned of a mass extinction event in recent years, and scientists have previously warned that up to a million species are threatened with extinction, and that some of them could be lost within a few decades.
A separate study published in the journal Biological Reviews earlier this summer suggested that the current sixth mass extinction event was the first mass extinction “to occur as a direct result of the actions of one species: humans. ”
In June 2023, researchers proposed the start of a new era that reflects the impact of humans on the planet, but not all scientists are convinced that the current loss of wildlife represents a sixth mass extinction event.
Stuart Beam, a professor of conservation at Duke University, told MEE: "We have no idea how to determine the sixth mass extinction event," but he stressed that disagreeing with the sixth extinction hypothesis does not mean denying the fact that the Earth is experiencing loss of wildlife, at a faster pace than in the past millions of years.
While Ceballos says the debate about whether or not the sixth mass extinction will occur “doesn ’ t really matter, ” he said, adding that the Earth is already suffering from a significant loss of biodiversity, climate change, and environmental poisoning — regardless of the label.
It is noteworthy that the Earth has experienced 5 mass extinctions, namely:
The Ordovician Silurian Extinction – 444 million years ago
Late Devonian extinction – 383 to 359 million years ago
Permian – Triassic extinction – 252 million years ago
Extinction of the Jurassic Triassic – 201 million years ago
The Cretaceous and Paleogene Extinction – 66 million years ago
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Content: Scientists have estimated the diversity of mammals of the ice age in Siberia - RIA Novosti, 16.11.2023
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Scientists have estimated the diversity of mammals of the ice age in Siberia
© Sergey Gashev, Tyumen State University The bones of large mammals extracted from the reservoir
Read ria.ru in
MOSCOW, Nov 16 — RIA Novosti.
Scientists of Tyumen State University proved the applicability of environmental methods for assessing the species diversity of fossil communities and found a large number of species of large mammals in the south of Western Siberia during the Pleistocene period, which began 2.5 million years ago and ended 12 – 10 thousand years ago, the press service of the university reported.
The stability of the Earth's biosphere is supported by the species diversity of the animal world.
Depending on the unity of habitats, animals form communities – relatively closed systems that are characterized by different resistance to various external factors.
Estimating the biodiversity of modern fauna is a task that scientists have been solving for more than two centuries.
But the establishment of the number of species and the number of individuals of fossil animals is much more difficult, since the material is fragmented and often it is impossible to quantify the share of a particular species in the community, experts from Tyumen State University (TSU) said.
Deadly dust.
Discovered the true cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs
They assessed the indicators of species diversity of the community of large mammals in Western Siberia according to paleontological data using modern methods.
“
It turned out that the Pleistocene communities of large mammals in the south of Western Siberia differed quite a large number of species, almost 70% of which disappeared in the next geological era, despite the rather high stability of their communities.
The transformation of habitats was so strong as a result of climate change and the influence of primitive man, ” explained Professor Sergey Gashev, Head of the Department of Zoology and Evolutionary Ecology of Animals at Tyumen State University.
To conduct the study, scientists collected paleontological osteological material and quantified it for the relative abundance of individuals of certain species in the sample.
It's complicated.
Scientists have named the causes of mass death of animals around the world
"We found the remains of 16 species and found that the species richness and diversity of large mammal communities in the south of Western Siberia was quite large.
Thus, the Shannon index of species diversity here is equal to almost 3 conventional units, whereas for modern communities it reaches 3.5, very rarely exceeds 4.5.
Taking into account that the paleontological material most often does not fully represent species diversity, this is a very interesting result, "Gashev said.
In the future, the researchers plan to expand the geography of their research both on the territory of the Tyumen region (along the rivers Vagay, Iset, Tavda, etc.), and in other points of the southern part of Western Siberia in the North-South gradient.
The results of the study are published in the journal "Scientific notes of the Khujand State University named after academician B. Gafurov.
Series: Natural and Economic Sciences.
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This report examines both environmental and anthropogenic factors that contributed to the mammoth's extinction.

How did humans contribute to the wooly mammoth extinction?

What environmental factors contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

## Environmental Factors: Climate Change and Habitat Transformation

### Climate-Driven Habitat Loss

Research published in Nature (2021) demonstrates that climate change was the primary driver of woolly mammoth extinction.

According to most recent research, what cause of wooly mammoth extinction is not as important as previously believed?

According to most recent research, what is the primary cause of wooly mammoth extinction?

How did climate change affect mammoth' habitat?

What are the causes of the wooly mammoth extinction?

What aspects of climate change contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

What environmental factors contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

According to most recent research, what cause of wooly mammoth extinction is not as important as previously believed?

According to most recent research, what is the primary cause of wooly mammoth extinction?

How did climate change affect mammoth' habitat?

What are the causes of the wooly mammoth extinction?

What aspects of climate change contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

What environmental factors contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

As the last ice age ended approximately 11,700 years ago, global temperatures rose significantly, leading to dramatic changes in Arctic ecosystems.

What are the causes of the wooly mammoth extinction?

What aspects of climate change contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

What environmental factors contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

The mammoth's natural habitat - the mammoth steppe - consisted of open grasslands that disappeared as the climate warmed.

According to most recent research, what is the primary cause of wooly mammoth extinction?

How did climate change affect mammoth' habitat?

What are the causes of the wooly mammoth extinction?

What aspects of climate change contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

What environmental factors contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

### Ecosystem Transformation

Professor


### Comprehensive Report on the Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth

#### Introduction
The woolly mammoth (*Mammuthus primigenius*) was a majestic creature that roamed the cold steppes of the Northern Hemisphere during the Pleistocene epoch.

These massive mammals, closely related to modern elephants, were well-adapted to life in the harsh Ice Age environment.

However, by the end of the Pleistocene, around 10,000 to 4,000 years ago, woolly mammoths had largely disappeared.

Understanding the causes of their extinction provides valuable insights into the complex interplay between environmental changes and human activities, and how these factors can lead to the collapse of entire species.

#### Environmental Factors: Climate Change and Habitat Loss
One of the primary drivers of the woolly mammoth's extinction was climate change.

As the Pleistocene epoch came to an end, the Earth began to warm, leading to significant changes in the

### Comprehensive Report on the Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth

#### Introduction
The woolly mammoth (*Mammuthus primigenius*) was a majestic creature that roamed the cold steppes of the Northern Hemisphere during the Pleistocene epoch.

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America's Finest News Source.

Geneticists Announce They Have Resurrected Woolly Mammoth’s Trunk Only

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AUSTIN, TX—In a watershed breakthrough in the effort to bring back extinct species by synthesizing their DNA in a laboratory, a team of geneticists announced Friday they had resurrected a woolly mammoth’s trunk, though not any other part of the animal. “While we admittedly fell short of our ultimate objective—giving life to this magnificent Ice Age creature so it could once more roam the steppes of the frozen tundra—we are nonetheless pleased with our success in creating a living, breathing mammoth trunk,” said David Silva, a researcher at the genetic engineering firm Colossal who spoke to reporters at the company’s headquarters, where lab assistants placed the mammoth appendage on a conference room chair only to watch it flail around and flop itself down onto the floor. “Our plan now is to just keep at it, moving on to the tail, the tusks, and then the feet—which will be hard, because they were absolutely huge, and we have to grow everything from a few cells in a test tube. But once that painstaking, piecemeal approach is finished, we should have no problem stitching all the parts together and giving the world its first woolly mammoth in 10,000 years.” At press time, reporters fled the room when the disembodied trunk, apparently both sentient and angry, began strangling to death each of the geneticists responsible for bringing it to life as a horrific freak.

from 300,000 years ago up until 10,000 years ago

These massive mammals, closely related to modern elephants, were well-adapted to life in the harsh Ice Age environment.

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It’s A Start: Geneticists Working On Bringing Back Mammoths Just Announced They’ve Developed An Elephant With Eyebrows And An Insane Bush

As the science of genetic engineering has developed over the past few decades, scientists have made some major strides toward reviving the extinct woolly mammoth. While this ultimate goal has eluded the researchers so far, a thrilling new breakthrough announced yesterday shows that the day when mammoths once again walk the Earth is closer than ever: Geneticists working on bringing back mammoths just announced they’ve developed an elephant with eyebrows and an insane bush!

This is awesome! It might not be the wooly mammoth clone the world has been waiting for, but it’s definitely a start!

The amazing new results were published yesterday in the scientific journal Nature by a team of researchers from Stanford University in a paper titled “We Did It: We Made a Beautiful Elephant With Friday Kahlo Eyebrows and a Bush Like a Bavarian Forest That Isn’t A Mammoth But Is More Mammoth-Like Than Most Normal Elephants.” The miraculous elephant was paraded through the streets of Palo Alto, California, where onlookers could admire its out-of-control pubic hair and thick, striking brows. Scientists worldwide agree that the results are a landmark achievement in quest to produce the first living mammoth the world has seen in 4,000 years.

 “Through cutting-edge gene editing techniques, we have been able to target elephant genes that determine a given pachyderm’s eyebrow length and thickness, as well as the genes that determine how bonkers and shockingly huge an elephant’s bush is,” said Professor Amanda Gehry, one of the lead researchers on the project, in a press conference earlier today. “Our ability to manipulate these genes specifically has allowed us to create a creature that is in some ways just as insanely hairy as the mammoths of old. It’s not a full-blown mammoth, but it’s not nothing either.”

“Seriously, this thing’s bush is absolutely out of control,” Professor Gehry added. “It looks like someone dyed a Marge Simpson wig brown and fastened it to this elephant’s crotch. It’s a massive triumph for science.”

This is so cool! Just when you think science can’t get any more astounding, a study like this comes along to blow our minds yet again. Seeing an elephant with eyebrows this big and a bush this bananas gives us hope that a real-life mammoth isn’t too far behind–and we can’t wait!

However, by the end of the Pleistocene, around 10,000 to 4,000 years ago, woolly mammoths had largely disappeared.

When did the last population of wooly mammoth become extinct?

from 300,000 years ago up until 10,000 years ago

Understanding the causes of their extinction provides valuable insights into the complex interplay between environmental changes and human activities, and how these factors can lead to the collapse of entire species.

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This is how many bird species humans have already wiped out

Far more than previously known

This is how many bird species humans have already wiped out

The more humans spread across the earth, the more animal species disappeared - this also applies to birds. According to an international research team, bird extinctions have occurred in three major waves. We are currently in the third wave and it is affecting more regions than before.

The dodo on Mauritius, the giant auk in the North Atlantic or the St. Helena's hoopoe on the island of the same name in the South Atlantic: according to a study, mankind has wiped out around 1,400 bird species over the past millennia or at least contributed significantly to their disappearance. This corresponds to almost 12 percent of today's approximately 10,900 bird species, writes an international research team in the journal "Nature Communications". The bird extinction occurred in three major waves and mainly affected islands.

The spread of humans beyond Africa has led to the disappearance of many animals worldwide over the past tens of thousands of years. In addition to large mammals, birds were particularly affected - especially on island groups. In addition to hunting, the specific causes were primarily the destruction of habitats such as forests as well as various human bring-alongs, as the team led by Rob Cooke from the University of Gothenburg writes. Examples include dogs, rats and pigs.

It is not known how large this bird mortality actually was because many species have disappeared without a trace. Cooke's team estimated the extent of this loss by first concentrating on the lost bird world of New Zealand, which has been excellently studied and whose existence is evidenced by many fossils. The research team then compared the data with 69 archipelagos with a total of almost 1,500 islands and used it to create models of how many species of extinct birds could have remained undiscovered worldwide.

Disappearing without leaving a trace

According to the results, around 1300 to 1500 species disappeared over the millennia - 55 percent of them without leaving a trace. Of the 640 extinct species of which there are fossil finds, 90 percent are island dwellers. In contrast to species on the mainland, these have fewer places to retreat to. Most species - an estimated 61 percent - disappeared in the Pacific region.

The team names the 9th century BC as the first major wave of bird extinction. At that time, the first humans reached many islands in the Western Pacific, including the Tonga and Fiji archipelagos and the Mariana Islands. The Canary Islands were also colonized at this time. Researchers date the second, much more intense wave to the 14th century AD. At that time, people opened up many island groups in the Eastern Pacific, such as Hawaii and the Marquesas, but also the islands of New Zealand.

New threats lead to rapid decline

"The arrival of humans along with their pets (pigs, dogs, chickens) and Pacific rats, which were brought over with them, brought a change in habitat and new threats to the native bird world, which led to a rapid decline in bird species," it says. These included nine species of moas (Dinornithi), large ratites in New Zealand, the Lori parrot species Vini sinotoi in the Marquesas and the corvid Corvus impluviatus in Hawaii.

The third wave - the current bird extinction that has been ongoing since the 18th century - affects many different regions and is associated with the destruction of habitats, environmental pollution and the introduction of invasive species, the group continues.

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Source: www.ntv.de

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Content: The cause of the death of the dinosaurs was established by scientists millions of years later
Researchers developed a new simulation that used more than 300,000 different scenarios to find out the truth.
According to a new study by scientists from the University of Darmuth, it was long believed that the dinosaurs were destroyed by an asteroid, but new data suggest that the real cause of their extinction could be the activity of Indian mega-volcanoes "Deccan traps".
According to the Daily Mail, the simulation, based on geological and climatic data, confirmed that emissions of gases from these volcanoes, including carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, could cause serious climate change and the death of many species of animals, including dinosaurs.
However, some scientists still doubt this theory, and the scientific community has not reached a consensus on this.
Despite the resulting research, there are scientists who continue to doubt that Indian mega-volcanoes were the true cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs.
This means that the question of what exactly was the main cause of the death of these ancient creatures is still open and requires further research and discussion among the scientific community.
Overall, the new study offers an interesting alternative hypothesis about the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs, but it may not be an immutable truth.
Before research, scientists always face different points of view and opinions.
In this case, despite the data presented, some scientists continue to doubt that it is the Indian mega-volcanoes that are the main cause of the extinction of dinosaurs.
This disagreement shows that further research and discussion is needed to arrive at a definitive conclusion.
Undoubtedly, the new results of the study present an interesting and well-founded alternative hypothesis about the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs.
However, it is necessary to continue research and discussion in the scientific community in order to obtain more evidence and reach consensus on this issue.
Scientific research is always subject to constant revision, and new data and arguments can change the perception of past events.
Therefore, it is important to continue research and discussion to get a more complete picture of what led to the extinction of dinosaurs and other ancient creatures on Earth.
Also, studies have shown that dinosaurs began to die out long before the fall of the asteroid.
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Content: The sixth mass extinction on Earth begins.
Warning of "devastating" negative effects on humans
2023-09-24 | 04: 45
Alsumaria News - Miscellaneous
In a new study, researchers warn that the sixth mass extinction on Earth has already begun and is accelerating dramatically, noting that the rate of extinction among animals will be significantly higher than it has historically been, adding to similar studies that warned that the Earth is not in good shape.
The new study, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said the study is important because it sheds more light on how humans affect Earth's trajectory, usually negatively.
According to the study, animal species will be extinct at a rate 35 times faster than historically recognized during the past million years, and the researchers highlighted the role of humans in this phenomenon, noting that animal species that became extinct during the past 500 years would have taken about 18,000 years to extinction in the absence of humans.
But habitat destruction, illegal trade, and climate disruption will likely continue to accelerate the pace of extinction over the next decades.
Gerardo Ceballos, the lead author of the study, says that the mass loss of animal species means the loss of a record of the Earth's evolutionary potential and history, adding that "there is life on this planet thanks to plants and animals, including wild animals and plants, and the ecosystem that forms them."
Ceballos noted that the crops used by humans, the combination of atmospheric gases that make the Earth habitable, and the active compounds used in medicines all depend in one way or another on plants and animals, and that when we lose whole branches of species, “we lose the planet ’ s ability to sustain life in general, and save life in particular. ”
The new research builds on a number of studies that have warned of a mass extinction event in recent years, and scientists have previously warned that up to a million species are threatened with extinction, and that some of them could be lost within a few decades.
A separate study published in the journal Biological Reviews earlier this summer suggested that the current sixth mass extinction event was the first mass extinction “to occur as a direct result of the actions of one species: humans. ”
In June 2023, researchers proposed the start of a new era that reflects the impact of humans on the planet, but not all scientists are convinced that the current loss of wildlife represents a sixth mass extinction event.
Stuart Beam, a professor of conservation at Duke University, told MEE: "We have no idea how to determine the sixth mass extinction event," but he stressed that disagreeing with the sixth extinction hypothesis does not mean denying the fact that the Earth is experiencing loss of wildlife, at a faster pace than in the past millions of years.
While Ceballos says the debate about whether or not the sixth mass extinction will occur “doesn ’ t really matter, ” he said, adding that the Earth is already suffering from a significant loss of biodiversity, climate change, and environmental poisoning — regardless of the label.
It is noteworthy that the Earth has experienced 5 mass extinctions, namely:
The Ordovician Silurian Extinction – 444 million years ago
Late Devonian extinction – 383 to 359 million years ago
Permian – Triassic extinction – 252 million years ago
Extinction of the Jurassic Triassic – 201 million years ago
The Cretaceous and Paleogene Extinction – 66 million years ago
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Title:

Content: Free-Fall – A series of
postings offering
perspective and
commentary on art and
global environmental
issues

0
58

by Joe Carlisi

WAKE UP

If the overwhelming, continuous, live media coverage of catastrophic
environmental events coupled with clear, explicit data, findings and
predictions released by the normally conservative and understating
scientific community aren’t enough to open our eyes to the reality of the
ongoing environmental free – fall, then . . . well . . . perhaps, we’re just not
awake.

How did we get here?

We navigated our way here. The direct consequence of collective,
historical and current human behavior produced the current scenario.
This is neither speculation, opinion nor ethically shaded judgment. It is an
obvious, undeniable, empirically solid fact . . . essentially the consensus
conclusion of the world’s scientific community. It is what has led us to
where we are now: rapidly escalating environmental melt down..
Core elements of the planetary environment have been destabilized . . .
overwhelmed by the impact of destructive human activity. Free-fall . . . the
sixth extinction. Meltdown. A threshold in the carbon cycle is fast
approaching that will result in an untenable environment for life on
this planet.
If exceeded, mass extinction will occur. Game over. That is the
science of it in a nutshell.

To dwell on issues of good and bad, right and wrong, blame and guilt is
largely an indulgence that will bear no fruit. Blame, moral or ethical
judgment, outrage, recrimination, regrets, thinking or debating will not
change the reality. It’s what politicians engage in to create theater to
distract the public while they clear the path for their big industry patrons to
continue to do as they please. An old game that never fails.

The window for stopping the collapse has probably already shut. Slowing
it down and perhaps limiting its extent may be possible. Positive
decisions, successful choices and most importantly, ACTION seem to be
the only options we have.

The only possible platform on which any of this could happen is, across
the board
, global cooperation of nations and rapid retooling of human
industry toward sustainability. In other words, a miracle.
Despite the darkness of the scenario that we find ourselves in,
there may be an optimistic and positive opportunity here.

Awakening cannot be forced. It is a spontaneous evolutionary, adaptive
response triggered by environmental change. From a distance, it appears
that the human population has unwittingly acted to create an
environment for its own ultimate, evolutionary shift. Humans have rapidly
put into motion severe, adverse environmental changes which, in turn,
could serve as the trigger mandating and propelling rapid, adaptive
change in order to survive a disaster of their own making.

People have, in a sense, engineered the conditions necessary to trip their
own awakening and emergence as a viable species. How it will play out is
unknowable.

Freedom – Unrestricted human activity . . . without bounds, competition,
prejudice or violence. All taking place on a world hurtling through an
uncharted, infinite universe

***********************

Joseph Carlisi – Biography

Born and raised in New York City, he earned BA and MA degrees in Philosophy at Hunter College of the City University of New York and then continued his graduate studies in Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence at Massachusetts Institute of Technology working under the mentorship of Marvin Minsky. Joseph worked as a part time content and copy editor for Harvard University Press (science and medicine) while attending M.I.T.

After ten years as a university lecturer, researcher and administrator, he started and managed an advertising / public relations firm in San Diego, CA that handled a wide range of commercial accounts. On the academic side, he published a series of seven articles on animal behavior for Harvard Magazine and two books: “A Guide to Personal Power” and most recently “Playing God on the Eve of Extinction”.

Joseph Carlisi creates oil on canvas paintings that can be described as vivid, surreal and unexpected. His paintings have been exhibited and sold in: Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Miami, Tokyo, Yokohama, Amsterdam, Berlin and Salvador Brazil.

Joe’s art is available for purchase.

Contact him at carlisijoseph@yahoo.com.

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#### Environmental Factors: Climate Change and Habitat Loss
One of the primary drivers of the woolly mammoth's extinction was climate change.

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Colossal Expands Research Grants As It Tries To Revive Extinct Species

Following

Dallas-based “de-extinction” startup Colossal said today it is adding $7.5 million in research grants in an effort to speed the process of recreating the DNA of long-dead species such as the wooly mammoth and thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger.

The company and its partners have already made progress with the wooly mammoth, which during the last Ice Age roamed the Arctic tundra of Siberia and beyond. Researchers tied to the company have issued a preprint research report about their work on modified elephant stem cells that they believe could be further manipulated to bring to life the elephant’s furry northern cousin. That preprint has not yet been peer reviewed by an academic journal.

“We believe that to support a biodiverse future, we must facilitate ancient DNA research across the world,” said Colossal’s recently named Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro in a release. “Ancient DNA is the world’s discovery sandbox and it holds millions of yet to be discovered secrets that we can use to improve our planet’s future.”

The additional $7.5 million will be used by existing research partners, as well as adding more researchers, building a larger network of university partners, and creating a tech hub for exchanging research findings. Recipients include researchers at Stockholm University, the University of Potsdam, the University of California - Santa Cruz, the University of Alaska, McMaster University, University of Copenhagen, and Rowan University, among others.

The company also recently announced a partnership with James Reed, the co-director/-writer of the Oscar-winning 2020 Netflix NFLX documentary My Octopus Teacher, and his Underdog Films to create a multi-year documentary series following Colossal’s efforts to reverse-engineer the DNA of extinct species. Sophie Todd (Drive To Survive) will be showrunner.

“When we launched (in 2021), we had 200-plus production companies and directors contact us,” said Colossal CEO Ben Lamm in an interview. “We thought it was important to document this work for science. James Reed was a really great fit, not just because he'd done My Octopus Teacher and won an Oscar. When you do something big and bold, we believe it's important to be transparent and document it. There’s nothing more transparent than letting cameras in. I've never done that before.”

Other extinct species being researched include a giant deer (Megaloceros) and cave hyena that each once roamed Europe, American cheetahs, giant short-faced bears, and Steller’s sea cows, as well as flightless birds such as dodos, moas and giant auks.

“We do believe there's a huge opportunity not just to re-wild (extinct) species, but also a huge opportunity around biodiversity protection,” Lamm said. “We even saw some interest in carbon credits” that could be developed by helping rescue endangered modern species.

“There’s been a lot of data about forest elephants and carbon sequestration,” Lamm said. “There’s incredible data about wolves in North America. As long as you're thinking about that with right lenses, those (kinds of restoration programs) will be quantifiable as carbon credits.”

Lamm said Colossal’s ancient DNA initiatives have paid off already in areas such as AI-fueled algorithmic analysis, embryology, and comparative genomics that have applications far beyond extinct animals. In particular, the researchers said they’re hopeful the breakthroughs can be used to save endangered and threatened species whose shrinking gene pools make it difficult to sustain populations.

The company is researching artificial wombs that could bear some of the revived species without endangering existing related species.

One of the company’s biggest achievements so far is in “multiplex editing,” basically editing genomes in more than one segment at a time, accelerating what is a painstaking and precise process, Lamm said. That work has potential applications for researchers trying to develop drugs to cure or ease many genetic diseases that affect humans.

The company also already spun off one for-profit company, FormBio, a computational biology platform that leverages artificial intelligence in genetic analysis.

While the tools the company has developed are free for conservation and research groups focused on ancient DNA, researchers and companies focused in other areas will have to pay to use them, Lamm said.

The company has faced some controversy over its plans, not least because of the unlikely but scary outcome suggested in various Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies and Michael Crichton’s original 1990 book about revivified dinosaurs running amok (the Colossal work is focused on extinct mammal and bird species, not dinosaurs).

Others have questioned whether the prodigious sums involved in the work are the best use of resources, and whether, say, a revivified wooly mammoth is actually a woolly mammoth or some hybrid creation with no natural ecosystem to sustain a population of the creatures. It has, after all, been 15,000 years or so since the Ice Age blanketed huge parts of Eurasia and North America with glaciers.

“We really have to think about whether re-wilding a critically endangered species makes sense,” Lamm acknowledged. “You have to think about how these particular groups can work with nature. I think we need to think about how do we live truly integrated with them. The pushback in Tasmania (where the thylacine once was an apex predator) is the logging industry.”

There, the company is working with the loggers, local politicians, non-governmental entities, community groups and others to develop a plan for a possible re-introduction of the thylacine on the Australian island. That process may take a decade to work out, Lamm said.

The three-year-old Colossal has labs of its own in the Boston area, where Harvard-based Colossal co-founder George Church works, and in Melbourne, Australia, Lamm said. The company is also building out a 45,000-sq.-ft. lab in the Dallas medical district around Parkland Hospital.

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According to most recent research, what is the primary cause of wooly mammoth extinction?

How did climate change affect mammoth' habitat?

What are the causes of the wooly mammoth extinction?

What aspects of climate change contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

What environmental factors contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

As the Pleistocene epoch came to an end, the Earth began to warm, leading to significant changes in the

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CIA wants to revive prehistoric species such as the woolly mammoth

The CIA is funding a project that aims to revive iconic species like the woolly mammoth and Tasmanian tiger, but it’s not good news.

The CIA has become the latest investor in Colossal Biosciences, a genetic engineering company that wants to revive iconic species of the past, such as the woolly mammoth and Tasmanian tiger. According to LiveScience, reports indicate that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is funding research into the ‘resuscitation’ of extinct prehistoric species.

Through a venture capital investment firm called In-Q-Tel, which is funded by the CIA, the government agency has made a financial commitment to Texas-based Colossal Biosciences. The latter’s official website explains that its goal is to “see the woolly mammoth thunder over the tundra once again” by combining “genetic science with the business of discovery.”

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According to the In-Q-Tel blog, investing in the project will help the U.S. government “set the ethical standards” for genetic engineering technology and keep the country at the forefront of nations that may also be interested in engineered genetic code modification research.

Reviving prehistoric creatures

Colossal Biosciences appears to be interested in bringing back various prehistoric animals, such as the woolly mammoth that inhabited Arctic regions from North America to Siberia and became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene due to the disappearance of its natural habitat.

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But the interest in reviving species also includes others such as the Dodo bird, which disappeared from the Earth at the end of the 17th century due to human causes. The Tasmanian tiger is another animal that Colossal has its sights set on; this species became extinct in the 20th century, also due to anthropological causes.

Is it feasible to bring the species back?

Genetic engineering has been used in the past for nature conservation, but only cloning has been used as a measure to prevent species from becoming extinct forever. Genes have been taken from captive-bred specimens for cloning and then reintroduced into the wild.

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So far, genetic modification using the CRISPR addition technique, which is used to ‘copy, paste and replace’ specific gene sequences in DNA, is not a tool that has been used for nature conservation, and many have warned about the dangers this would bring.

The woolly mammoth, for example, lived in the ice age when temperatures were much lower than they are now. It became extinct due to climate change that wiped out its natural habitat, so the thought of reviving it brings with it an inherent ethical debate that cannot be ignored.

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In any case, the large amounts of money that the CIA intends to invest in resuscitating the woolly mammoth and other ancient species could be used for the conservation of species that are currently in danger of disappearing. However, it seems that beyond an animalistic objective, the agency seems to have a special interest in genetic modification, an area that is increasingly growing and completely lacks ethical and professional guidelines.

Story originally published in Spanish in Ecoosfera

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According to most recent research, what is the primary cause of wooly mammoth extinction?

What are the causes of the wooly mammoth extinction?

What aspects of climate change contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?

What environmental factors contributed to the wooly mammoth extinction?