New look at old tooth reveals woolly mammoths lived further east than previously thought

A closeup of the tooth shows the extent to which the molar (far right) has been worn down. (Photo courtesy of McGill University)

The re-examination of a fossil discovered more than 125 years ago suggests woolly mammoths ranged much farther in eastern Canada than previously thought.

The specimen, a mammoth tooth fossil about 12 centimetres long, was discovered in 1898 on Long Island, Nunavut, in southern Hudson Bay.

The tooth was originally classified as a Columbian mammoth, a species that more typically lived in southern and western North America from approximately 1.5 million years ago to around 12,000 years ago.

It was strange that a Columbian mammoth was found so far north, because scientists believe they “were a bit less adapted to the cold” than their sister species the woolly mammoth, said Louis-Philippe Bateman, a McGill University master’s student in paleoecology and lead researcher into the study.

Bateman’s study was published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences on Oct. 20.

He determined through a detailed analysis of the tooth that its shape more closely aligned with the woolly mammoth than the Columbian mammoth.

The results of Bateman’s work suggest the mammoth roamed Long Island around 100,000 to 130,000 years ago during an interglacial period, meaning between ice ages, and the climate was possibly very similar to what it is now, though perhaps slightly warmer, he said.

Bateman said Long Island was likely connected to the mainland at some point, allowing the mammoths to migrate there during that period.

The animal was likely 60 or more years old, which is very old for a mammoth, he said.

The tooth was from its sixth set of molars and quite worn down, indicating its age. Mammoths, like elephants, grow six sets of molars throughout their lives, similar to the way humans grow two sets of teeth — baby and adult teeth.

Elephants’ and mammoths’ sixth molars can reach a point where they can no longer grind the plant life they need to survive, ultimately leading to starvation and death.

Measurements of the tooth indicated a high level of nitrogen, which is a strong indicator that the mammoth was suffering from malnutrition. Bateman said that may be the reason for its death.

While Bateman said he is proud of this discovery, there is much more still to be discovered in eastern Canada.

He noted, however, there has been a lack “described fossils” in eastern Canada — not because there is a lack of discoveries, but because a lot of fossils and old bones are sitting unexamined in museum cabinets.

“There have been some estimates that about 90 per cent of fossils [in the world] are ‘dark data,’ so to speak. Meaning unclassified, never been described, possibly erroneous — and that’s just in museum collections,” he said.

Bateman’s discovery fits into this category: A fossil that had been tucked way at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s collections in Gatineau, Que., for many years.