Question

Select the statement(s) that describe how the woolly mammoth became extinct.

The woolly mammoth had to compete with humans for the same food source.

The woolly mammoth was unable to adapt to the cold environment it lived in.

The genetic variations in the woolly mammoth cause their tusks to become smaller, so they could not protect themselves.

The environment of the woolly mammoth became warmer.

The woolly mammoth was hunted by humans for food, fur, and tusks.

Answer 1

Correct choices:
- The environment of the woolly mammoth became warmer.
- The woolly mammoth was hunted by humans for food, fur, and tusks.

Why: End‑Pleistocene warming reduced the cold “mammoth steppe” habitat and food availability, and human hunting (and likely human-driven habitat change) added pressure — together these are the main accepted drivers.

Why the others are incorrect or misleading:
- Competing with humans for the same food source: not a primary factor — humans mainly hunted mammoths rather than directly outcompeting them for vegetation.
- Unable to adapt to the cold: false — woolly mammoths were well adapted to cold; warming (not failure to adapt to cold) mattered.
- Genetic variations causing tusks to become smaller so they could not protect themselves: misleading — small isolated populations did accumulate harmful mutations late in their history, but tusk shrinkage as a direct extinction cause is not supported as a primary explanation.