OLogy Cards > Extinction

The Disappearance of the Mammoth
About 100,000 years ago, mammoths—large, hairy, elephant-like creatures—roamed in herds across much of the globe. Around 11,000 years ago, mammoths suddenly became extinct, except for one last population that lived over 7,000 years longer than the rest. This last group disappeared 3,700 years ago. Why did the mammoths become extinct? To answer this question, Museum scientist Ross MacPhee went to Siberia, the last home of the mammoths. By studying fossils, he hopes to test the theory that disease may have caused their extinction. Solving this mystery is important because finding out what caused extinctions in the past may help us prevent them from happening in the future.

How the Passenger Pigeon Became Extinct
About 300 years ago, billions of passenger pigeons lived on Earth. When gigantic flocks of these birds migrated, they could block out sunlight for hours. When large groups of these pigeons roosted, the limbs they sat on would sometimes snap from the weight of so many birds. In the 1800s, killing these birds for food became big business. In 1869, over one billion birds were killed in Michigan alone. Heavy hunting and the destruction of its breeding habitat caused the passenger pigeon to die out. In 1914, the last known passenger pigeon (named Martha) died in a zoo. Due to direct human impact, the most abundant bird in the world became extinct in a matter of decades.