Hay fever sufferers can certainly attest to the fact that it is a bothersome ailment. But to cause the extinction of an entire species? Such a bold claim was published in the September issue of the scientific journal Earth History and Biodiversity.
Most mammoths died out after the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, when, along with a warming climate, the global ecosystem underwent a radical change. Individual, isolated populations survived for another 6,000 years.
An international team of scientists in a new study suggests that the increase in pollen associated with intensive plant growth could have a significant allergic effect on some animals, reducing their ability to sense smells. Although at first glance it may seem quite funny, in reality, mucus-clogged noses could significantly limit the mammoths’ ability to sense breeding partnersAs a result, this could have caused a decrease in the population size and ultimately led to the extinction of the species.
During the research, frozen tissues of prehistoric animals were obtained, including a woolly mammoth, cave lion, woolly rhinoceros, bison and horse, from which proteins related to the immune system were extracted.
They paid particular attention to immunoglobulin (antibody) fragments that could be associated with an allergic reaction. What’s more, the research is consistent with previous discoveries in the guts of these giant mammals, which at the time found clues to plant life, such as Oxytropis sordida and Huperzia, which cause allergic reactions in many mammals.
In addition to finding mates, the weakened sense of smell could have had a significant impact on the ability to obtain food, migrate and avoid predators. It is worth adding that the new discovery does not contradict known explanations for the extinction of mammothssuch as overhunting by humans, disease, or incest. Most likely, it was a series of events that led to the extinction of the species.
Source: geekweek.interia.pl
