Did Pollen Allergies Cause Woolly Mammoths’ Extinction? New Study Proposes a Surprising Theory

Woolly mammoths have lengthy been thought to have disappeared as a result of a mixture of things, corresponding to local weather change and human exercise. However, a latest examine proposes an sudden speculation: pollen allergic reactions might have performed a job of their extinction. The examine means that on the finish of the final Ice Age, a surge in vegetation led to extreme pollen manufacturing. This might have triggered allergic reactions in mammoths, impacting their sense of scent. Since mammoths relied closely on scent for varied important features, corresponding to discovering meals, evading predators, and finding mates, pollen-related allergic reactions may have severely disrupted these talents.

Could Allergies Explain Extinction?

Researchers argue that this impairment throughout mating season might have made it tough for mammoths to speak and breed, contributing to a pointy inhabitants decline. However, additional testing, together with analyzing fossilized mammoth stays for immune proteins related to allergic responses, is required to substantiate this concept.

Scepticism Around the Hypothesis

While the examine presents a compelling narrative, not all specialists are satisfied. Evolutionary biologist Vincent Lynch, for instance, factors out that mammoth extinction is extra more likely to have been brought on by a mixture of environmental shifts and human searching. Until extra concrete proof emerges, the pollen allergy concept stays an intriguing however debated subject in mammoth analysis.