![]() Instead, the species’ number remained constant until close to their extinction, and long after humans migrated into their range. However, if hunting or other human activity had decimated their population, their genetic diversity would have declined noticeably, Lord said. They zeroed in on mitochondrial DNA-DNA passed through the mother-which revealed a diverse rhino family tree. You might also like: Europe’s Most Invasive Species Identified- Study ![]() By determining the full DNA sequence of one of these remains, and the maternal DNA sequence of all 14, researchers hoped to expose key parts of their history. Scientists obtained 14 specimens in the form of 12 bones, a mummified tissue biopsy, and a hair sample. Both the arrival of humans in their range and a climate warming period, known as the Bølling-Allerød interstadial, coincide with the disappearance of these ancient SUV-sized animals. Woolly rhinos ( Coelodonta antiquitatis), predecessors to the modern-day Sumatran rhinoceros ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), roamed Siberia tens of thousands of years ago. However, Lord and her colleagues cannot rule out human activity as a contributing factor in the rhinos’ final years. “We can say that climate probably did have a huge role in the woolly rhino declining and going extinct,” said paleogeneticist Edana Lord of Stockholm University and the Swedish Museum of Natural History, lead author of the recent study in Current Biology. Now, a new genomic analysis of the remains of 14 of these fantastical furry yellow creatures shows that climate change was the likely culprit for their disappearance-not hunting by migrating humans, as scientists had assumed. In the arctic tundra of northeastern Siberia lies a graveyard of a now – extinct species of megafauna, the woolly rhino, dating back 50,000 years. Earth.Org is powered by over 150 contributing writers
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