The Death of Mammoths in the Pleistocene

Range

• The mammoth's range stretched from Alaska through Canada and the United States into Mexico and Central America. Sites with remains are located throughout the countries. One such example is a mammoth site in Hot Springs, South Dakota. It is the site of a flooded sinkhole where mammoths would stop to drink. Scientists believe that mammoths became bogged down at the site and were unable to get up, thus explaining the large numbers found. Over 50 mammoths, both Columbian and wooly, have been excavated at the site.

Climate Change

• One reason proposed for the deaths of mammoths is climate change. During the Pleistocene, the temperature swung between ice ages and warm weather. Towards the end, the temperature warmed considerably, and some scientists believe this warm weather changed the habitats and available food supply. The problem with this theory is the fact mammoths survived many climate changes in their past, so it's unclear why this latest change caused their extinction.

Hunting

• Mammoths were large animals; the Columbian mammoth stood 14 feet at the shoulder and weighed 8 to 10 tons, while the wooly mammoths were 11 feet tall at the shoulder and weighed 6 to 8 tons. Despite their size, another theory is that humans hunted the mammoths to extinction. Mammoth deaths do seem to coincide with the appearance of humans, although the humans of 10,000 years ago possessed primitive weapons. There is doubt they would have had the ability to kill such large animals in large numbers.

Disease

• Another theory for mammoths' deaths suggests some type of disease wiped out the species. No evidence exists to prove this theory. As the California Museum of Paleontology suggests, the issue is unsolved, and maybe all three factors contributed to the death of the mammoths. Although the Pleistocene ended 10,000 years ago, mammoths lived on to approximately 4,000 years ago, according to the Anchorage Museum.