The Origin and Evolution of the Woolly Mammoth

The mammoth lineage provides an example of rapid adaptive evolution in response to the changing environments of the Pleistocene. Using well-dated samples from across the mammoth's Eurasian range, we document geographical and chronological variation in adaptive morphology. This work illustrates...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2001-11, Vol.294 (5544), p.1094-1097
Main Authors: Lister, Adrian M., Sher, Andrei V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Animals
Biological Evolution
Datasets
Dentistry
Ecological genetics
Elephants - anatomy & histology
Elephants - physiology
Environment
Europe
Evolution
Fossils
Heat index
Mammals, Fossil
Mammoths
Mammuthus primigenius
Marine ecology
Migration
Molar - anatomy & histology
Mosaic
Paleobiology
Paleodontology
Pleistocene
Predictor Variables
Prehistoric era
Prehistoric mammals
Siberia
Specimens
Teeth
Tooth enamel
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Summary:The mammoth lineage provides an example of rapid adaptive evolution in response to the changing environments of the Pleistocene. Using well-dated samples from across the mammoth's Eurasian range, we document geographical and chronological variation in adaptive morphology. This work illustrates an incremental (if mosaic) evolutionary sequence but also reveals a complex interplay of local morphological innovation, migration, and extirpation in the origin and evolution of a mammalian species. In particular, northeastern Siberia is identified as an area of successive allopatric innovations that apparently spread to Europe, where they contributed to a complex pattern of stasis, replacement, and transformation.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1056370