Did Pollen Allergy symptoms Trigger Woolly Mammoths’ Extinction? New Research Proposes a Shocking Concept

Woolly mammoths have lengthy been thought to have disappeared because of a mixture of things, equivalent to local weather change and human exercise. Nevertheless, a current examine proposes an surprising 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 will have triggered allergic reactions in mammoths, impacting their sense of odor. Since mammoths relied closely on odor for numerous important features, equivalent to discovering meals, evading predators, and finding mates, pollen-related allergic reactions might have severely disrupted these talents.

Might Allergy symptoms Clarify 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. Nevertheless, additional testing, together with analyzing fossilized mammoth stays for immune proteins related to allergic responses, is required to verify this idea.

Scepticism Across the Speculation

Whereas 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 attributable to a mixture of environmental shifts and human looking. Till extra concrete proof emerges, the pollen allergy idea stays an intriguing however debated matter in mammoth analysis.