The last of the mammoths

'The mammoths are sounding a warning to us today, that big animals like the elephants, far from the being resistant to extinction, are often the most vulnerable'
Prof Adrian Lister, palaeobiologist

Climate change or hunting by humans - what caused the extinction of these Ice Age elephants? Mammoth expert Prof Lister talks us through his research findings and the stark warning they sound for the future of mammoths' living relatives, African and Asian elephants. Find out how Prof Lister uses Museum collections for his research into the last major extinction of large mammals.

Woolly mammoths roamed parts of Earth's northern hemisphere for at least half a million years. They were still in their heyday 20,000 years ago but within the next 10,000 years they were reduced to isolated populations off the coasts of Siberia and Alaska. By 4,000 years ago they were gone.

Explore more groundbreaking discoveries made using the Museum's collections - Still discovering >