Woolly mammoths had testosterone surges like those of male elephants

Testosterone preserved in the tusks of male woolly mammoths reveals that they underwent seasonal changes called masts, much like modern elephants do.

Upon reaching sexual maturity, male African and Asian elephants go through a must period for about three months each year. This change is characterized by a surge in testosterone, often accompanied by a thick, gooey discharge from the elephant’s temple canals. The exact relationship between hormonal changes and behavior is unknown, but male elephants are said to be more aggressive and restless during this time.

woolly mammoth (original mammothextinct about 4000 years ago) were closely related to the Asian elephant. Their tusks grow throughout their lives, much like elephant tusks, and previous studies have documented hormones such as cortisol, testosterone, and progesterone stored in tooth tissue called dentin.

Paleontologists have long suspected that woolly mammoths experienced masts. To test this idea, Michael Charney of the University of Michigan and his colleagues believed that male African elephants, male woolly mammoths, estimated to have lived about 35,000 years ago, and their surroundings. Tusk testosterone levels were isolated and analyzed from female gibbons. 5500 years ago. By sampling many sections along the length of the tusk, they were able to see how hormone levels fluctuated over the life of the animal.

Elephant testosterone levels reached 20 times higher during must periods than during other periods. The test showed similar fluctuations in a male mammoth, with testosterone reaching 10 times his baseline. There was little change in testosterone levels in female mammoths.

“This is a very exciting and fascinating scientific inquiry,” says Susan Alberts of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He was not involved in this research. “Comparing elephant and mammoth tusks provides compelling evidence that the two species receive the same signals.”

Mast was an “easily achievable achievement” in the original study, Charney said, but the new method has the potential to document many aspects of the life of mammoths and other extinct animals. “We hope to be able to identify gestation, maturity age, stress events, and more to improve our understanding of mammoth and mastodon paleontology,” he says.