Did the Egyptian Sphinx and Woolly Mammoths share the planet?

[guy]

 

The last population of woolly mammoths have been identified. They appear to have been trapped on Wrangel Island, off the coast of Siberia 10,000 years ago and survived till 4000 years ago (approximately 2000 BCE). 
 

The last woolly mammoth, therefore, died about 500 years after both the Sphinx and the pyramid of Giza were build in Egypt.

These woolly mammoths became isolated when rising water cut the island off from the mainland. It is estimated that eight individual animals originally lived on the island, surviving 200 generations, and producing a peak population of 300-300. The cause of these woolly mammoths’ extinction is unclear.

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240627172101.htm#google_vignette

 

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00577-4

 

 

Edited July 6, 2024 by guy

[guidoLaMoto]

This is actually old news, but it is fascinating to compare what was going on in different parts of the world while famous historical events were taking place. When Newton was inventing Calculus, most of the world was still living a Stone Age lifestyle. When the Chinese were wearing fancy silk robes, writing poetry and printing them with moveable type, our north European ancestors were still draped in animal skins and hunting with crude wooden spears, not much advanced from the Neandertals.

I don't know how they came up with the "300 generations" figure, but that in itself would be amazing. The math of population dynamics suggests that a population of less than 500 for species with low litter size will go extinct in just a few generations. About 200 species of large animals have gone extinct during historical times-- almost all of them among island inhabitants.