{"id":507295,"date":"2026-05-28T18:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/507295\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T18:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:08:11","slug":"scientists-thought-alaska-fossils-were-mammoths-they-were-whales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/507295\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Thought Alaska Fossils Were Mammoths, They Were Whales"},"content":{"rendered":"

For several decades, the story of why woolly mammoths disappeared seemed remarkably simple and unquestioned; radiocarbon-dated fossils across mainland Beringia had unambiguously told researchers that all of the Ice Age giants died out there around ~13,000 years ago, leaving only scattered island refuges. Yet whispers of survival lingered. But environmental DNA indicated that some individuals persisted in small numbers throughout the Holocene.<\/p>\n

One of the major challenges in deciphering Ice Age bones is resolving a conflict in the records between what they say, that they\u2019re \u201cextinct\u201d, and what genetic analyses can test, which may indicate that these ancient animals are \u201cstill alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make headway on this challenge, the Adopt-a-Mammoth project was started in 2022 to catalog more mammoth fossils with radiocarbon dating. The new effort represents a systematic search and detailed analysis of the youngest, and therefore most relevant, material that should exist between the paleontological record documenting extinction and genetic data suggesting survival.<\/p>\n

1.2 million years old mammoth remains reveals the world\u2019s oldest DNA<\/a><\/p>\n

The authors noted, \u201cThis effort has successfully ruled these specimens out as contenders for the last mammoths. The project has already doubled the number of radiocarbon dates associated with mammoth fossils from Alaska relative to those generated over the last 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"twoPhotographs of the two epiphyseal plates, showing the underside and upper surface of each. (University of Alaska Museum of the North)<\/p>\n

So, when they found two vertebral epiphyseal plates preserved in sediments from interior Alaska, there was great excitement and high expectations. The bones were astonishingly dated at just 1,900 to 2,700 years ago by radiocarbon dating reports in the Journal of Quaternary Science, a radical sign that mammoths survived into the Iron Age, very recently compared to human groups building empires and developing civilizations elsewhere in the world.<\/p>\n

The excitement faded with closer examination. Isotopic analysis showed that these so-called \u201cmammoth\u201d bodies had food signatures similar to those of animals that eat marine resources. This feeding behavior is entirely unknown and does not align with the plant-based diets of steppe giants, which fed on terrestrial vegetation.<\/p>\n

Ancient DNA analysis delivered the final twist: these specimens were definitely not mammoths at all, but instead belonged to whales: a North Pacific Right whale and a Minke whale. Both of these marine mammal specimens were found in the Fairbanks area of interior Alaska and dated to the Late Holocene.<\/p>\n

Mammoth moves: frozen cells come to life, but only just<\/a><\/p>\n

What had seemed like the last breath of mammoths was instead the echo of ocean giants. That shock also brought with it a new, equally puzzling mystery: how did bones from an ocean-dwelling animal like whales get buried in sedimentary deposits thousands of kilometers away, inland, and well removed from the present-day shoreline? To solve this mystery, the study systematically evaluated four scenarios:<\/p>\n

Ancient river transport: floodwaters or ice\u2011rafted debris could have carried whale remains deep inland.<\/p>\n

Human involvement: early peoples may have transported whale bones to use for tools, trade, or ceremonies.<\/p>\n

Geological changes: shifting coastlines and active glacial processes explain how marine remains ended up far from the coasts today.<\/p>\n

Taphonomic processes: sediment reworking over time may have moved bones long after the carcasses decomposed.<\/p>\n

Each scenario is plausible. However, with the evidence provided, no one can know for sure. This leaves the mystery balanced between land and sea and across time.<\/p>\n

Though the \u201clast mammoths\u201d turned out to be whales, the study shows the value of multi-layered analysis, radiocarbon dating, isotopes, and DNA, all coming together to improve our understanding of the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Adopt-a-Mammoth project continues its search for the youngest mammoth fossils to determine if hidden populations really existed during the Holocene.<\/p>\n

Extinction stories are rarely neat. They are mosaics of fossils, genes, sediments, and chance discoveries. In this case, mammoths gave way to whales, and the tundra whispered a different tale than expected. The search for the last mammoths continues, but along the way, we are reminded that the past is not a straight line, but a labyrinth of mysteries waiting to be untangled.<\/p>\n

Journal Reference:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Matthew Wooller, Pat Drukenmiller, Gonzalo Oteo-Garcia, Francesca Di Paolo, Love Dalen et al. Adopted \u201cmammoths\u201d from Alaska turned out to be a whale\u2019s tale. Journal of Quaternary Science. DOI: 10.1002%2Fjqs.70040<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For several decades, the story of why woolly mammoths disappeared seemed remarkably simple and unquestioned; radiocarbon-dated fossils across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[77],"tags":[18,8399,7044,19,17,133],"class_list":["post-507295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-eire","tag-fossils","tag-ice-age","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116653543096100513","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}