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Mammoths Survived in Britain Longer than Thought

from the Guardian (UK)

Woolly mammoths were roaming the British Isles for thousands of years longer than previously thought, a new study shows.

By analysing mammoth remains found in Condover, Shropshire, scientists concluded that the animals were probably wiped out by rapidly changing climate at the end of the last ice age rather than hunted to extinction by humans.

"Mammoths are conventionally believed to have become extinct in north-western Europe about 21,000 years ago during the main ice advance, known as the last glacial maximum," said Adrian Lister, of the Natural History Museum, in London, who led the study. "Our new radiocarbon dating of the Condover mammoths changes that by showing that mammoths returned to Britain and survived until around 14,000 years ago."