The Cloning of a Mammoth

The Pleistocene epoch spanned from 1.8 million years ago to 10,000 years ago [1]. Many genera and even species such as conifers, mosses, flowering plants, insects, mollusks, birds, and mammals from that era still survive today [1]. Others, such as the long-horned bison, saber-toothed cats, giant ground sloths, and the mammoth did not survive [1].

The woolly mammoth was commonly found during the last ice age [2]. These animals were similar in size to today’s elephants but were adapted for living in the extremely cold conditions typical of an ice age [2]. Mammoths had narrower skulls, shorter tails, and smaller ears than elephants do, and they were protected by a full coat of coarse hair that secreted oils and insulated them from the cold [2]. The mammoths also had tusks that they used to clear away snow in their search for food [2].

Mammoths went extinct approximately 4,000 years ago after their numbers began to diminish about 10,000 years ago [2]. Mammoth fossils have been uncovered on every continent except for South America and Australia [2]. It is not entirely clear what led to the extinction of the mammoth [2]. Some of the current theories for their extinction include climate change, meteorites or comets, and predation by humans [2].

The most recognized reason for the mammoth’s disappearance is that as the Earth warmed, the climate became too much for the mammoths to handle since they had evolved in a cold environment [2]. It is also possible that the global climate change led to the extinction of some of the mammoth’s vital mineral-supplying plants which in turn led to the extinction of the mammoth [2].

Researchers have also found some evidence of an asteroid hitting the Earth which may have resulted in a massive climate ch...

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...ts and more species will begin to go extinct [13].

Other researchers believe that bringing back the mammoth and other extinct species will increase conservation efforts [4]. They argue that by creating more species that are in need of a home, people will be driven to preserve land where they can survive [4]. In fact, a nature preserve covering a sixty-square-mile area has already been established in Siberia in the hopes that it will one day soon be inhabited by mammoths [4].

While society may not currently be ready for the revival of creatures that went extinct thousands of years ago, technology certainly has that goal in its sights. Since cloning and genome sequencing techniques are still in need of refinement, it will give naysayers time to come to terms with researchers aspirations. After all, it seems that sooner or later, mammoths will walk the Earth again.