Did Mammoths Go Extinct Because They Got Allergies?

New Study Suggests They Could, At Least, Have Contributed

I suffer from severe allergies, especially in the Spring. They have gotten so bad that, for a couple of months, I can’t venture outside without wearing a mask. I also don’t like how allergy meds make me feel, so this is really the only option besides turning into a caveman.

However, because of the pandemic, people act extremely cautiously and suspiciously when they see a man with his kiddos wearing a mask at the playground.

This last Spring, my wife started joking after seeing a lady’s reaction to seeing me: “Thanks gosh, you aren’t a single dad; imagine hitting on another mother with your mask on!”

I thought it was funny. But when I read this recent research article, I couldn’t help but smile. As it turns out, masks aren’t the only allergy-related issue making courtship harder.

When we think about the extinction of the woolly mammoth, our minds otften jump to images of these gigantic creatures struggling against the cold or being hunted by cavemen. But what if another factor played a significant role in their ultimate extinction — something as simple as allergies?

Recent research suggests that mammoths may have faced a sneaky adversary: pollen allergies that impaired their ability to smell, affecting their chances of survival and reproduction. Cool, right?

Smell is vital for animals to navigate their environments, find food, detect threats, and, importantly, locate mates during breeding seasons. Elephants, the modern-day relatives of mammoths, have an incredibly keen sense of smell, which they rely on heavily.

The study, led by Dr. Gleb Zilberstein and colleagues, posits that mammoths, too, had a strong olfactory system, which unfortunately became compromised as they faced environmental changes. The researchers suggest that these allergies, resulting from exposure to new plant pollens, could have reduced the mammoths’ sense of smell, impairing their ability to reproduce and survive. Let me explain in further, shall I?

The research proposes that as the climate warmed, new flowering plants began to populate the areas where mammoths lived, increasing the levels of airborne pollen. These allergens could have caused the ancient mammals to suffer from allergic reactions, making it harder to find mates and detect food and water sources, contributing to their extinction.

But what evidence do the authors have to make these claims?

The team analyzed tissue samples from frozen mammoths preserved in Siberian permafrost to explore this hypothesis. Their goal was to detect traces of immunoglobulins, which are immune system proteins involved in allergic responses.

Specifically, the researchers were looking for evidence of immunoglobulin E (IgE), a marker for allergic reactions, which could indicate that the mammoths were experiencing some form of allergy.

Using ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) technology, the team extracted and separated immunoglobulins from the samples. Then, they used liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to identify and characterize these proteins, aiming to match them with known immune responses.

They also looked for organic compounds like pollen, which could be linked to the environment the mammoths lived in and the allergens they were exposed to.

So, what did they find? The team discovered antibodies in the tissue samples, suggesting that the mammoths were actively fighting off some kind of immune challenge, possibly an allergic reaction.

In addition to antibodies, they found traces of organic compounds that are consistent with pollen — exactly the kind of allergen that could trigger allergic responses in large herbivores. These two key findings point toward the possibility that mammoths were suffering from allergies caused by increased pollen exposure in their environment.

Poor “little” creatures…

As the authors note, the timing of the mammoths’ extinction coincided with a period of climate change when the planet was warming, allowing plants to spread to regions they hadn’t inhabited before.

The researchers suggest that these new plants could have introduced pollens to the mammoths’ environment, triggering allergic reactions and impacting their sense of smell. This could have made it harder for them to locate mates, find food, and detect water sources — all critical to their survival.

Traditionally, the decline of mammoth populations has been attributed to climate change and human hunting. While these factors undoubtedly played a significant role, the new research introduces a third possible cause — one that’s often overlooked when considering ancient species: the impact of allergies.

As the team points out, the inability to smell properly could disrupt essential behaviors like mating, contributing to population decline. “The research team…suggests that part of the reason woolly mammoths went extinct was the onset of allergies that made it difficult for them to find mates,” the authors report.

The findings don’t just add an interesting layer to our understanding of mammoth extinction — they also highlight the interconnectedness of species, environment, and behavior. An increase in plant diversity or changes in vegetation are not always beneficial to large herbivores, especially when it disrupts their natural senses and behaviors.

This study highlights how even slight environmental changes can have deep biological impacts. In the case of mammoths, it appears that a more diverse plant life — along with the pollens it released — might have played a role in driving them to extinction by disrupting their reproductive success and daily life. Quite a hypothesis, isn’t it?

However, the hypothesis presented by this research team provides a fresh perspective on the possible mechanisms behind the extinction of the woolly mammoth. Rather than a single catastrophic event or straightforward cause, it highlights a more complex interplay between climate, vegetation, animal physiology, and, very likely, human overhunting.

The possibility that allergies affected their sense of smell and, consequently, their ability to reproduce and survive presents a new angle on how species can be sensitive to environmental changes. It’s one that needs more exploration, for sure.

While more research is necessary to fully understand the impact of allergies on mammoth extinction, this study opens the door to considering how immune responses to environmental changes might influence the survival of a species.

It’s a fascinating reminder of how even small biological processes can have massive consequences over time. And who would have thought that something as mundane as a stuffy nose could have played a part in wiping out one of history’s most iconic creatures?