Woolly rhinos were once widely distributed across northern and central Eurasia before becoming extinct about 10,000 years ago. Credit: Mauricio Anton
Advanced computer modeling shows that persistent human hunting contributed to the extinction of the woolly rhino by blocking their migration to new habitats during post-ice age warming. This underlines the continued impact of human activity on large animals. kind.
Researchers found that persistent hunting by humans prevented the woolly rhino from reaching favored habitats as the Earth warmed after the last ice age.
An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of Adelaide and the University of Copenhagen, used computer modeling to make the discovery, shedding light on a centuries-old mystery.
“Using computer models, fossils and ancient DNAwe have traced 52,000 years of woolly rhino population history across Eurasia at a resolution previously unimagined,” says lead author Associate Professor Damien Fordham from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute. “This showed that a combination of cooling temperatures and low but persistent hunting by humans caused the woolly rhino to shrink its range southwards 30,000 years ago, leaving it in a number of isolated and rapidly deteriorating habitats at the end of the last ice age. . As the Earth thawed and temperatures rose, woolly rhino populations were unable to colonize important new habitats in northern Eurasia, causing them to destabilize and crash, resulting in their extinction.”
An iconic species of megafauna, the woolly rhinoceros had thick skin and long fur, and once roamed the giant step of northern and central Eurasia before becoming extinct about 10,000 years ago.
Conflicting findings and human impact
This recent discovery, published in PNAScontradicts previous research showing that humans played no role in the woolly rhino’s extinction – despite the animal co-existing with humans for tens of thousands of years before its extinction.
“The demographic responses that emerged from our analysis were of much higher resolution than those from previous genetic studies,” says Professor Eline Lorenzen of the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen. “This allowed us to identify key interactions between woolly rhinos and humans and document how these changed through space and time. One of these largely overlooked interactions has been the persistently low level of hunting by humans, likely for food.”
Humans pose a similar threat to the environment today. Populations of large animals have become fragmented and suboptimal habitats due to overhunting and human land use changes.
There were 61 species of large terrestrial herbivores – weighing more than a ton – alive in the late Pleistocene, and only eight survive today. Five of the remaining species are rhinos.
“Our findings show how climate change and human activities could lead to the extinction of megafauna,” said Professor David Nogues-Bravo of the University of Copenhagen, who co-authored this study. “This insight is crucial for developing conservation strategies to protect currently threatened species, such as vulnerable rhinos in Africa and Asia. By studying past extinctions, we can provide valuable lessons for protecting Earth’s remaining large animals.”
Reference: “52,000 Years of Woolly Rhino Population Dynamics Reveals Extinction Mechanisms” by Damien A. Fordham, Stuart C. Brown, Elisabetta Canteri, Jeremy J. Austin, Mark V. Lomolino, Sean Haythorne, Edward Armstrong, Hervé Bocherens, Andrea Manica, Alba Rey -Iglesia, Carsten Rahbek, David Nogués-Bravo and Eline D. Lorenzen, June 3, 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316419121