While woolly mammoths vanished from mainland Eurasia and North America around 10,000 years ago, a small population survived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, cut off by rising seas, until about 4,000 years ago. These dwarfed animals lived on while the pyramids of Egypt were already built. DNA studies show that the group was descended from only a few individuals and suffered from inbreeding and genetic damage before disappearing, perhaps because of a combination of climate change, ice or drought, and the arrival of people on the island. Their story is used to study how small populations decline.
Before and after
- c. 2,040 BCEEruption of Long Island
- from c. 2,025 BCE to 609 BCEAssyrian Empire
- from 3rd millennium BCE to 2nd millenniumMaya civilization
- 3rd millennium BCEOrigins of Damascus
- 21st century BCEThe last mammoths die out on Wrangel Island
- from c. 2,000 BCE to 1,500 BCEPhilippine Jade Artifacts
- from c. 1,991 BCE to 1,802 BCETwelfth Dynasty of Egypt
- from 20th century BCE to 6th century BCEBabylonia
- c. 1,900 BCEConstruction of Karnak Temple Complex
More in Evolution & life
- c. 3,000s BCEThe Austronesian expansion begins from Taiwan
- c. 3,000s BCEYamnaya herders spread across Europe and Asia
- from c. 2,200 BCE to 1,700 BCEBactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex
- 16th century BCEVedas
- from c. 1,500 BCE to 500 BCELapita
- from 13th century BCE to 6th centuryAncient Greece
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires.