Mammoth mystery takes an unexpected turn

Mammoth mystery takes an unexpected turn

University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Matthew Wooller and a large international team have studied the remains of more than 300 mammoths during the past three years. None has delivered a journey quite like samples UAMN3760 and UAMN3724.

Wooller, a professor at UAF's College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, has led a recent effort through the Adopt a Mammoth projectto radiocarbon date as many mammoth fossils from the region as possible. Knowing when and where mammoths roamed across Alaska helps paint a picture of their lives during recent ice ages and how they interacted with Alaska's earliest people.

The two backbone samples from the University of Alaska Museum of the North collection, reportedly discovered just north of Fairbanks in 1951, looked like they could upend all that work. When a lab in California called Wooller with their radiocarbon dating results, they said the fossils were about 1,900 and 2,700 years old- roughly 10,000 years more recent than those previously found in mainland Alaska.

"Those would be the youngest mammoth fossils on the planet," Wooller said. "That's a really big deal."

Wooller followed up with a round of isotope testing, which showed the mystery mammoths had a considerably different diet than their much older relatives. His skepticism led to DNA testing, which determined the fossils weren't from mammoths at all.

Somehow, the backbones of a North Pacific right whale and minke whale, which look like mammoth fossils, had made their way to Interior Alaska.

"The DNA evidence told us they were whales, but not even the same species of whale," Wooller said. "What the heck?"

With the mammoth timeline busted, a research team that included paleontologists, biologists, archaeologists and zoologists worked to decipher the riddle of how the whale bones ended up where they did.

Some whales make their way far inland, but that behavior has never been observed in a right whale. Predators carry bones at times but not such great distances. Trade between coastal and inland peoples seems like a more likely possibility, since the archaeological record shows backbone pieces were useful for making tools and plates along the coast.

Another possibility is that the whale bones were attributed to the Fairbanks area through a recordkeeping error. Archaeologist Otto Geist, who found the bones, gathered specimens throughout Alaska in the early 20thcentury. The "mammoth" samples may have accidentally migrated from a whale fossil collection gathered during one of his coastal visits.

The bones didn't make history, but Wooller said the research team has no regrets.

"We could have easily stepped away from it, but by putting dates on specimens you're adding value to the museum collection," Wooller said. "Now there are specimens of ancient whales that people can use in future research."

Wooller is also looking forward to more opportunities to study fossils locally. UAF's new radiocarbon dating lab, the only such facility in Alaska, is expected to open in summer 2026.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT:Matthew Wooller, [email protected]

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