The ailment affecting many people today may have been the reason for the extinction of the giant woolly mammoth.
Writing in the scientific journal Earth History and Biodiversity, a group of authors from Israel, Italy, and Russia pointed out that pollen allergies could explain the extinction of the mammoth species.
This may sound strange, but at the end of the Ice Age, the habitat of this giant creature could have been engulfed by “clouds” of pollen.
The rise of post-Ice Age vegetation may be the cause of mammoth extinction – (AI-generated image: ANH THƯ).
The research group focused on the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) that lived during the Ice Age approximately 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago.
After the Ice Age, the population of woolly mammoths declined sharply. By 10,000 years ago, only a small population survived on Wrangel Island, isolated in the northeastern part of Russia, until about 4,000 years ago.
The reasons for the disappearance of this giant creature remain controversial. Several factors have been suggested: inbreeding, excessive hunting by humans, environmental changes…
According to Live Science, the new study has recreated the environment during the transition from the Ice Age to the subsequent warm period.
The sudden change led to an explosion of vegetation in the cold lands where mammoths lived, including many flowers that could create clouds of pollen.
This would have been a tragedy for a species accustomed to life in icy regions, which were not used to exposure to pollen and had an excellent sense of smell.
The authors argue that allergies may have disrupted several vital functions of the mammoths’ lives.
They relied on their sense of smell to find food and mates, navigate during migration, and evade predators; therefore, their sensitive and dexterous trunks may have led to their extinction.
The results of this research are still a hypothesis based on arguments about environmental and biological factors of the species.
The authors hope to find direct evidence in future studies.
One way to confirm whether mammoths suffered from allergies is to examine the stomachs of naturally preserved “mummies” that have been found in the Siberian tundra, which may still retain traces of pollen and allergy-inducing plants.
Next, to determine whether these chemicals actually caused allergic reactions in mammoths, researchers propose searching for immune system proteins that the body produces during allergic reactions.
One of the key proteins is immunoglobulin E (IgE), produced in the intestines and then expelled. Thus, testing the fossilized mammoth feces could be helpful.
Currently, there is strong evidence supporting this hypothesis: ancient DNA samples indicate that the last woolly mammoths from Wrangel Island lost the ability to smell certain flowering plants.
