Uploaded September 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The woolly mammoth is strongly associated with the Ice Age, but they survived until surprisingly recent times in the far north. Recently, the genomes of multiple mammoths from the last surviving population were sequenced. The scientists concluded the population was founded by 8 or fewer individuals and only 1 mitochondrial lineage was among them. They also estimated that the population grew to a few hundred before finally going extinct. This, it turns out, is a wonderful natural laboratory for biblical events. Consider that there were only 8 people on the Ark. How much genetic diversity would we expect to lose? Is that population too small to prevent so much inbreeding that humans would have gone into mutational meltdown? Etc. Etc.
Show notes and additional links can be found here:
biblicalgenetics.com/last-woolly-mammoths
Support for Biblical Genetics comes through my friends and generous donors at:
Patron.com: Patreon.com/BiblicalGenetics (monthly)
BuyMeACoffee.com: buymeacoffee.com/BibGenetics (one-off)
Or you can send me a little crypto: commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/c26d7501-f877-482a-a1ff-962207f15499
The woolly mammoth is strongly associated with the Ice Age, but they survived until surprisingly recent times in the far north. Recently, the genomes of multiple mammoths from the last surviving population were sequenced. The scientists concluded the population was founded by 8 or fewer individuals and only 1 mitochondrial lineage was among them. They also estimated that the population grew to a few hundred before finally going extinct. This, it turns out, is a wonderful natural laboratory for biblical events. Consider that there were only 8 people on the Ark. How much genetic diversity would we expect to lose? Is that population too small to prevent so much inbreeding that humans would have gone into mutational meltdown? Etc. Etc.
Show notes and additional links can be found here:
biblicalgenetics.com/last-woolly-mammoths
Support for Biblical Genetics comes through my friends and generous donors at:
Patron.com: Patreon.com/BiblicalGenetics (monthly)
BuyMeACoffee.com: buymeacoffee.com/BibGenetics (one-off)
Or you can send me a little crypto: commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/c26d7501-f877-482a-a1ff-962207f15499
