Scientists have claimed that they have found the precise reason behind extinction of mammoths 10,000 years ago. Their findings have dispelled the previous belief that it was humans who hunted them to extinction.

Per Moller is a geology professor from Lund University, who collected a large number of soil samples of different age during seven expeditions to Arctic Siberia. The samples were analyzed by scientists in laboratories to find the composition of vegetations that existed during the ice age.

After examining plant DNA residue in these samples, researchers gained insight into what plant species mostly dominated the region where mammoths had lived. They also studied stomach contents of eight large mammal carcasses to figure out what plants were preferred the most by the animals. The carcasses were found preserved in the frozen ground.

This provided the link to researchers to what actually led mammoths to disappear. Actually, mammoths heavily relied on the protein-rich herbs, forbs, for their survival in the arctic region. However, drastic change in climate led to decay of forbs and brought new grass into the picture that was not nutritious enough to sustain the survival of mammoths.

Major part of Arctic area was covered in ice 18,000 to 25,000 years ago. But nevertheless, there were some ice-free areas as well in the Arctic region and those areas hosted so-called mammoth steppe.

Mammoths used to graze on protein-rich wild flowers, but once the plant species disappeared from the region, mammoth struggled to support their dietary requirement essential for their survival. As a result, mammoths reached extinction 10,000 years ago.