5,700-YEAR-OLD MAMMOTH REMAINS FROM THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS, ALASKA: LAST OUTPOST OF NORTH AMERICAN MEGAFAUNA

Remains of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) dating to ~5,700 14C yr BP (~6.500 cal yr BP) have been discovered in a lava tube cave on St. Paul Island, an isolated island in the Bering Sea, Alaska. These remains are at least 2,200 years younger than any previously reported mammoths in North America, and are currently the latest dates for extinction Pleistocene megafauna in the Americas. Extended mammoth survival on the Pribilof Islands may have been a function of the complete isolation of the islands from human occupation until the late 18th century, as well as some unique aspects of local geology and vegetation. Like the Wrangel Island mammoths, the Pribilof Island mammoths are at the lower end of the size range for Mammuthus primigenius, but are not truly dwarf mammoths. The survival of the Pribilof Island mammoths has significant implications for both human and environmental theories of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction.