Eastern European woolly mammoths changed their diet shortly before becoming extinct

Senckenberg scientists, together with an international team, studied the potential cause of extinction of the Woolly Mammoth 18,000 years ago. In their study, recently published in the scientific journal “Quaternary Research,” they concluded on the basis of isotope analyses that the mammoths had to change their feeding habits shortly before becoming extinct. This forced environmental adaptation, combined with hunting pressure from early humans, ultimately led to the mammoths’ demise.