Bringing Back the Dead: Mammoths pt. 5. A Colossal Waste

(Author’s note: I am not a geneticist. I do not work in a gene-sequence lab. I’m doing my best to synthesize the data I’ve researched but have probably gotten some things wrong as I attempt to simplify the more complex parts of the science below. In other words: don’t cite this as a reference in your genetics class, but there are a few fun links you can probably use.)

In 2023, the Mammoth was back. Or, more accurately, Mammoth meat was back on the table. Scientists had made a Mammoth Meatball (1) was made. Or, more accurately, a ‘mammoth flavored” sheep meatball was made. If you read past the headlines, it wasn’t 100% Mammoth Meat. It was still, really cool science. Scientists working on cultured meat, used the genome of mammoths sequenced in 2015, (2) to identify the gene which codes for Woolly Mammoth Myoglobin. Myoglobin is “The protein which gives meat it’s color and flavor.” - ((1) Smithsonian article.) This is all pretty interesting science, (3) and I’ll get into it a bit more below, but let’s focus on the meat.

Once they (4) had isolated the Mammoth Myoglobin Gene, they reconstructed it, filling in the gaps with an African elephant’s myoglobin gene. They used their constructed gene to make Mammoth Myoglobin. (I’m capitalizing some things simply for visibility sake.) Bingo, Mammoth Myoglobin produced for the first time in at least 4 thousand years, and put into a meatball.

Only, (and this stuff gives me headaches the further I research as the articles, (1) synthesize, and simplify things to such a remarkable degree that the actual process is markedly different from what is expected.

Here is the distilled process, as best as I understand it. (If any of the scientists doing this want to correct me, feel free to contact the email on the contact page. This is all really interesting stuff.”

1st. The Mammoth DNA was sequenced, (read) and the gene which coded for Mammoth Myoglobin was identified. It was read and reread enough times to, relatively, accurately identify all of the base pairs which would code for the expressed amino-acids, and thus the protein.

2nd. This was compared and contrasted with the same sequence (Myoglobin gene) in African Elephants. The differences were highlighted.

3rd. A gene was produced which, as accurately as possible, mimicked the Mammoth Myoglobin gene. Earlier attempts to recreate Mammoth proteins were done by Editing African Elephant DNA to change identified base pairs to their contrasting Mammoth Counterparts. (Mammoth Hemoglobin (5) came first when scientists identified potential cold tolerant mutations in Mammoth vs Elephant DNA and reproduced Mammoth Hemoglobin DNA.) So, without any literature stating otherwise, (but a lot of obfuscating literature which seems to imply something else) I have to assume this is how it was done: They edited the African Elephant Myoglobin Gene by inserting the Mammoth Gene sequences which stood in contrast. (A lot of the articles seem to imply that they used the actual Mammoth Myoglobin Genes, cloned/copied, and only spliced in African Elephant sections as needed, but I can’t find any literature sustaining this implication.)

4rth. The Mammoth Myoglobin gene. (which I still think is an African Elephant Myoglobin Gene edited to express Mammoth Traits.) was then inserted into Sheep Muscle Cells, which were cultured and copied billions of times over. (this is actually mentioned in the original (1) Smithsonian article, but heavily downplayed throughout all literature about it.)

5th. These cultures were collected and used to make the ‘Mammoth ‘ Meatball.

So, the most important question: What does it taste like? Actually, who knows? (I secretly speculate that someone does, ;-) However the truth is that with food safety being an important issue, no one actually ate the meatball It was a publicity stunt. The (They, 4) mentioned above was a company called VOW which is invested heavily into the cultured meat market. The purpose of the Mammoth Meatball was to bring more attention to the idea of cultured meat in place of farmed meat, for cultural and environmental purposes. You can read more about it in links 1 and 4.

What does this mammoth-flavored, African elephant gene-encoded, sheep meatball have to do with bringing back the Mammoth. Well, several things actually.

Let’s finally dig as deep as I am willing to go into Colossal, Pleistocene Park (6,7) respectively, and current attempts to bring back the Mammoth. (not necessarily in that order.)

Way back in 1988, Sergey Zimov brought some cold adapted horses up north of Siberia, in an attempt to keep a research station in the frigid north open, by finding funding during the soviet collapse. By 1996 this grew into Pleistocene Park. (a real place, not to be confused with the fictional sign I made for my similarly named illustration.)

The area for the park, and the fauna inside began to expand. Yakutian horses, Moose, and Reindeer, followed by “musk ox from the Wrangel Island; European bison from the nature reserve near Moscow; yaks, Kalmykain cows and sheep from the lake Baikal region.” (7) The Pliestocene Park’s ultimate goal is to establish an ecosystem not seen since the Pleistocene: The Mammoth Steppe. They are not working on de-extincting the Mammoth. But they hope to provide a home for mammoths once they are de-extincted.

Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences (6) is the organization which has taken the most steps to de-extinct the mammoth. While these two are not directly connected, I hope you can at least see the connection. Their current proposed methodology to do that is something I hope I’ve established in previous blog articles. (because wow This had been a lot of work) but lets go through it briefly:

The method is very similar to what was used to make the “mammoth” meatball.

Step 1: Sequence the DNA of Lots of Mammoths. (more individuals means recognizing the individual distinctions which allows for the creation of genetically distinct animals, leading to a healthy population)

Step 2: Contrast that DNA with their closest living relatives: the Asian Elephant. (for some reason, the meatball guys and the Mammoth Clone guys have different opinions on Mammoths Closest living relative. This might have to do with the paper in which Mammoth DNA was sequenced and compared to African Elephant DNA to compare population trends, (3,) which was heavily referrenced in work on the meatball.) Use the comparison to identify the specific distinctions between Asian Elephants and Woolly Mammoths to identify the genes that make a Woolly Mammoth A Woolly Mammoth.

Step 3: Edit the DNA of an Asian Elephant stem cells to make them as Mammoth-like as possible. This would mean inserting those Mammoth Hemoglobin and Myoglobin Genes, along with as many other distinctions as possible. The goal should yield: Nucleuses full of Mammoth(y) Asian Elephant DNA. These should be clone multiple times over, (you should always make sure to save your work before any drastic changes to the system.. I once lost 2 days of editing on my book Treasure Off the Coast because I did not save, and my computer shutdown unexpectedly. (Now imagine that happening with Billions of dollars of manhours, computational assemblies, lab equipment, and effort.)

Step 4. Inserty these Mammoth(y) Asian elephant genes into Asian Elephant eggs to fertilize them. (look this article has been a lot of work, I’m too lazy to find the paper which talked about doing this, it might either be already fertilized Asian Elephant Embryo “Clones” (clone by twinning. Or it might be into unfertilized eggs I truly forget which.)

Step 5. Gestate and Birth Mammoth(y) Asian Elephants.

This is what we, one day, could have. (my cave bear and smiledon turned out better than expected. Also I like the rhinos. The beavers didn’t quite survive my lack of artistic ability.)

There are several other microchanges which can be made along the way. Which Mitochondria do we use? (probably the host parent cell’s) How Many genes do we need to change to turn our Asian Elephants into mammoths? How many genes do we need to change to make them distinct individuals? And how do we Birth them? The most ecologically ethical way, endorsed by Colossal is Artificial Wombs. But we aren’t quite there yet. (see links in previous blogs.) There are lots of steps along the way, and the more science advances, the more we can answer some of these questions with a better level of accuracy and precision. 500 Gene’s changed today, might be 50,000 edits in the future. That type of thing.

So, Can we bring a Mammoth Back? Or an Asian Elephant Woolly Mammoth Gene-edited Hybrid, anyway. It seems like we are on the right track, and if it’s authenticity you are looking for, this is way more authentic than any attempt to bring back non-avian dinosaurs would be. (See a future Bringing back the dead about those.) And If Mammoths, what about other Pleistocene Fauna?

Probably, and Probably. With the right science.

But, as was stated by a leather wearing actor in one of the best movies of 1993, (definitely the best of the many dinosaur movies on offer that year.) “Scientists have spent so long thinking about whether or not they could, that they never stopped to ask if they should.” - (A close enough quote of Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park)

So. Should we bring the Mammoths back.

Organizations like Colossal and Vow, doing this work, both have seperate goals, but both, along with Pliestocene park cite similar reasoning.

They lay out their reasons why for de-extinction into 3 basic categories. Correction for mistakes made, a positive environmental impact, and the advancement of science. They are also, mostly, honest about another 4th category: the expansion of funding for projects.

Lets look at each of these:

1. Correcting our mistakes

We can look at human history and easily recognize that we’ve had an impact on the flora and Fauna of life on earth. Passenger Pidgeons, Dodo’s, Tasmanian Tigers, The Yangzhe river dolphin, the Northern White Rhino. All of these animals are extinct because of us. (Along with so many more) Some were purposefully hunted out of existence, while others were wiped out because we destroyed their environments, or added other elements (cats) to their environment.

Californian Condors (brought up in Jurassic Park) and the southern Black Rhino, Bald eagles, and many other species have been brought nearly to the brink of extinction, with some populations seeing a rebound because we purposefully tried to save them.

It’s possible that Man played a hand in the elimination of the mammoth. There is, (as previously mentioned at the start of this series) hard evidence that we hunted mammoth, and corralative evidence that Mammoth’s population decline coincided with our spread across the planet. Their elimination, along with that of other Pleistocene Megafauna might be our fault, and perhaps this means we should take some responsibility to bring them back.

2. Positive Environmental Impact. Our Climate is changing. I will not debate climate science today, or put forth any statements about humans contribution to that change, because why would I? This is an article about bringing back Mammoths. However, it has been argued that the removal of Mammoths might have negatively impacted the situation. It has also been argued that bringing them back might have some positive results. Most often cited are two positive impacts Woolly Mammoths may have on Climate (article about it. (8))

a. Mammoths survived on a grassy diet, and also trampled shrubs and trees to create an environment known as the Mammoth Steppe. (wikipedia link.) An cold grassy environment which has almost entirely been replaced by mossy forests, wetlands, lakes (from glacial melt) and tundra. It’s this last which provides the least climate positive impact in comparison to the Mammoth Steppe, (along with Forests for some reason?) and the reintroduction of Mammoths Could bring back this nearly lost ecosystem, storing more CO2, and keeping the ground cooler, (“Preventing more carbon dioxide from below from being released.”) - A quote from (8).

b. Mammoths massive weight as they moved across their environment would have helped to pack down snow, and better insulate permafrost, which would also help prevent the loss of Carbon Dioxide, and help to sustain more snow, which would in turn reflect more sunlight.

So. Mammoths may help us with climate change.

Also we could eat them, but that actually has little to do with a positive impact, I just wanted to remind you that there was a blog published yesterday about the Mammoth Meatball.

3. Furthering our advancement of genetic science. Colossal, and other organizations with the goal of either understanding, or bringing back extinct fauna have massively assisted in the advancement of our understanding of, and ability to isolate, read, study, and even revive (through hybridization) ancient DNA, proteins and even traits. It was thoughts of bringing back the mammoth which helped drive scientists to sequence their DNA. It was tackling issues to do with cloning to developing this current best possible model for bringing an extinct creature like the mammoth back. And people doing this work are on the forefront of our ability to edit genetic code. These are all cutting edge sciences (even if it is a little challenging to find any specific articles about said science on either Colossal’s or Vow’s website. ((6 and 4 respectively.) They may be out there, I’m just saying I had a much easier time finding an entire peer reviewd article article discussing how genetic bottlenecks were determined between the Wrangle Island Mammoth Population and the Siberian Mammoth Populations while reseaching De-Extinction, than any peer reviewed articles about De-extenction methodologies. (3) Even so, in pursuit of science we can definitely say advancements were made because of the mammoth.

and the under mentioned 4. Driving force for funding.

Mammoth Meatball made. Pleistocene Park formed in Siberia. We may Bring the Woolly Mammoth Back to Life in the Next 3 years!!! All of these are headline grabbers, and investment syphons. Massive cool animals always have been. Id throw $50 at an anyone who announced that they were going to bring back Lambeosaurus, and once You buy copies of all of my books (Treasure off the Coast, The Specters of Mammoth Cave, and the upcoming Novels: Treasure of Biscayne Bay, and Treasure in the Swamp,) and convince 100,000 of your friends to do the same, I’ll start that initiative myself. However, the point is, Mammoths are cool. And saying that you’re going to bring them back brings in the money, and the headlines, and the headlines bring in the money. Announcing that you are going to bring back the mammoth, and putting some science behind it is basically free press. (I’ve certainly seen, and hopefully demonstrated that there are a lot of articles about it.) Heck, here I am writing 5.5 articles about it, (with some goofy sci-fi in between,) and I’m not even convinced it’s possible, much less a good idea.

Because. For all of those positives, (and the wobbly 4th which is also maybe not a positive, let me talk about the downsides.

It takes attention, and money, away from efforts to preserve animals which are still alive. What makes a Mammoth cooler than an Asian Elephant? Is it the fur? No. I contend that it is simply the fact that it is no longer with us. While Asian Elephants are still around. I believe that if we reversed the situation and Asian Elephants were the extinct animals we were thinking about bringing back, using thier living hairy cousins, we’d be just as enticed by the idea of those funny hairless mammoths coming back from extinction. I have no way of proving this, of course. But what I can prove is that our current population, of currently living Elephants are threatened or endangered. Asian elephants are currently categorized as endangered due, mostly, to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, conflict with humans, and poaching and illegal trade. (World Wildlife Fund Article, 9) That’s not to mention the potential extinction of some of the smaller populations of elephants, like the Sumatran Elephant, a population which only numbers 150 in the wild. Each of these threats is ongoing. Some could be solved with science and technology. Some could be solved with money and media attention (outreach.) African Elephants aren’t doing much better. (WWF article on African Elephants, 10)

And at this point, I should also mention that since all current plans to bring back Mammoths involves using Asian Elephant cell lines, and editing and replacing that Asian Elephant DNA, we are talking about using a process that removes viable Asian Elephant Stem cells to replace them with Woolly Mammoth Cells, Not to mention that with current artificial womb technology we’d need an Asian Elephant, who could be parenting more Asian Elephants carry the embryo, and possibly carry it all the way to term.

So we have usurped attention and money which could be spent preserving one endangered organism to experimentally bring back another.

What are some other problems with this? Well, the technology isn’t there yet. Throughout this entire process, we fudge a lot of steps 3, 4, and 5. We’ve ‘broght back’ singular mammoth genes using gene editing, but we aren’t even positive those genes will express in an embryo, and even if they did, we have to repeat that with enough genes to make our new hybrid distinctively mammoth-like. And how many genes will that take. Senquencing suggests that there are at least 1 million base pairs different between woolly mammoths and Asian Elephants. And the more of those we change, the more Mammoth-like our new hybrid will be. And mammoth-like isn’t, and shouldn’t be the only target. our Mammoths need to survive in their new environment. While there are estimates as low as 50 gene edits necessary to help an Asian Elephant survive Siberia, (another article about Mammoth revival, (11) from Arizona State University,) those are only estimates. Those 50 gene edited Mammoths may complain about the cold, they may freeze to death, and they may just die of not being viable. Also, the goal is a population. So genes also have to be edited to make distinct individuals, (or those distinctions have to come from the Asian Elephant line meaning more viable asian elephant embryos being used.) That creates more need for changes and points of failure, and if things aren’t done correctly, the mammoth flavoring might litterally be bread out of our ‘mammoths.’

In all reality, it might take way more than 50 gene edits to make a mammoth. It might take more than 100,000. It might take the full million. Because, without making a mammoth we won’t entirely know if we are missing some important biological association between the genes we do edit in and the ones we do not. And that’s still assuming that the process works. (it hasn’t yet.)

The science just isn’t there, yet. And it wont be in 3 years despite what the current articles say. 3- 10 years was the timeline quoted all the way back when this project began, well over 10 years ago. (I am way too lazy to go back and check that source, it was in either blog 2 or 3. (actually it might have been 4.) Since then, the process to Bring Back the Mammoth has changed from cloning a mammoth directly from preserved mammoth cells to making a mammoth hybrid, as science has progressed. And there’s no reason to believe it will remain stagnant. 10 years from now, the method to make a mammoth might change again, and then it might take “another 3 years” to bring back the mammomth again.

All the while, how many animals will go extinct in that time? How much will we invest to bring back these older animals, when there are other animals alive that need to be preserved?

To highlight what I mean lets talk about one of Woolly mammoths now also extinct neighbors on that Mammoth Steppe: Should we bring woolly rhino’s back, when the existing rhino populations need all the help they can get? There are already efforts underway to potentially bring back northern white rhinos using southern white rhino surrogates (article here, and that process, while infinitely easier than making woolly rhino hybrids through gene editing and surrogacy/artificial wombs is still controversial, challenging, and far from guarunteed to work. Meanwhile, to make it work, more resources = more chance of success.)

And that is to say nothing of all the smaller, lesser known and less popular organisms which would have lived alongside woolly mammoths. They’ve already lost by virtue of not being cool enough. Mammoths and woolly rhinos did not wander that steppe alone. There were other species who lived within that environment too, some of which may be as necessary to promulgating it. Even if that is not true, there are symbiotic associations which have not yet been considered. Gut biota for instance evolves with the organisms it lives inside and it’s shared with the parents. Who is to say that Asian elephant gut bacteria will help woolly mammoths digest their different diet well enough that they dontt suffer chronic nutritional deficit? (maybe that’s a thing, maybe it’s not,) My point is, while it looks like we are on step two, and close to step three, it’s more like we are on the Indian Sub Continent, and we’ve climbed to 1000 ft in elevation, but step three is still an Everest away.

That last paragraph is a perfect example of the many tangents De-Evolution has taken me down. There is a lot more to consider than even Jurassic Park prepared us for.

Can we bring mammoths back? In some form, it really does seem like we are steamrolling science towards some form of YES.

Should we bring Mammoth’s back?

I am always annoyed when people look at something scientists are working on, like space travel, like astronomy, like anything outside of their narrow purview of importance and say: “The money, time, and effort could be better spent elsewhere.” Because there just happens to be more than 1 scientist in the world, and there are as many different interests as there are scientists. So I’m hesitant to say I dislike the idea of bringing back Mammoth’s simply because it might take resources which would be better used on saving existing life.

But the problem comes with the simple fact that we are, currently, dealing with multiple organisms facing extinction, (many because of us,) who need our focus, funding, protection, and outreach. Some of which, like the elephant, are totally cool. Others, like Hawaiian Tree Snail, are, frankly less cool as far as I am concerned but still worth preserving. And many if not all of these currently living species would be easier to conserve, than it would be to bring an animal back from the past.

Plus, once those animals, (mammoths, stay on target me,) come back they will also be competing for resources, and sometimes space, (actually, this is one area where woolly mammoths would probably be ok. There’s not currently anythign occupying the Mammoth Niche in the tundra, However this is conjecture before we introduce the species. Because we wont actually know what effects herds of mammoth will have until they exist.)

And this hits another important stumbling block. This is untested, all speculations about a positive environmental impact are hypothetical. All theory that this will work out without a lot of major ethical stumbling blocks are optomistic. And all projections of timelines are wildly speculative. This leaves us writing articles about potential futures, half of the science needed to get there and a lot of handwaving attempting to fly us the rest of the way across the finish line, which is located in an unknown location built on dreams and fantasies.

And finally, there is the simple fact that this is very obviously being used as promotion to attract attention from media and fundraisers. To garner funds now for products promised to run tomorrow. To make big promises which it may, or may not be possible to fulfill. What happens when investors become disillusioned? What happens if the work falls through? What happens if the mammoths turn out to be a net negative for the environment, or an unsustainable population?

Frankly. I think I would like the idea a lot more, if the honest answer to “why do you want to bring Mammoth’s Back was simply: Because it’s cool.” Honestly, I think the science which is being developed for this is cool, and interesting, and might have other valuable uses. Really, I like the idea of Mammoths roaming the earth again.

So, do I actually think bringing back the Mammoth’s is a Colossal waste? I’m torn. I won’t say it’s as bad as a lot of tech grifts. I hope that the science can be used for more immediate practical applications, and to help save some species on the brink, but not yet extinct. But I’m not going to personally invest, nor will I hold my breath for a 2027-2028 mammoth.

Things I would like to see to make this more viable.

1. Just admit it, We want to bring back Mammoths Because it’s cool.

2. More development of gene editing tech to build a more accurate (and more potentially arctic survivable) mammoth. Frankly, I’m just going to say it: More Genes. Our DNA undestanding has come a long way since 1993. There’s a reason Colossal has changed their plans from: Clone Mammoths from Frozen Mammoths to Map Mammoth DNA and edit Asian Elephant DNA. We understand now that that is easier. However this doesn’t mean we know enough. 1 million base pairs different. and only guesses on how those will express, (and how they will work together.) good guesses, better guesses the more we learn probably. But to say we will go from 0 mammoths to a viable and distinct population by editing 50 asian elephant base pairs is either a gross underestimate to make the goal seem more attainable, or wildly reckless unless we have a clear understanding of how those genes express and work together.

3. A much more transparent communication of all the steps a lot of these 'bring back the mammoth’ group’s science about how they are gene editing, what genes they are marking, and how the process works. (I don’t need industry secret specifics, but “We used crisper to wibbly wobbly the mammoth genes with elephant genes and then input that into a cell’ should be followed with a link to a bevy of scientific papers.

4. A way to do this without putting asian elephants at risk, or hijacking them for this project. Artificial wombs. A sudden quintuppling of the Asian Elephant population. Funds invested in helping impoverished communities who have to live with elephants so that they don’t need to poach them, or fight them to save their farmlands. The same problem exist for the Thylacine, and the Dodo. Any potential carrying parent is a parent who could, instead be supporting their own population.

5. This one is already being done. I don’t want to sell Colossal down the river entirely, but I would like to see it continue: An equal, or larger focus on helping to assist currently endangered species. (or very recently extinct ones.)

My final conclusion: Mammoths, Thylacine, and Dodo. Three organisms, two of which were extincted by humans, 1 which might have gone extinct because of humans. Each of which has potentially left a void in thier ecosystem. These might actually be the best possible choices for de-extinction. But we have a long way to go before we are able to De-extinct any of them, and it’s a lot easier, and just as valuable on focusing on preserving the organisms we have now, and also on developing better practices so that more organisms are not driven to extinction.

Because one day, there may be a pliestocene park. But that accomplishment wont mean much if it’s paved over 2 years later to put up another parking lot.

Ok. I’ve been typing this article for WAY too long.

My final summary is a waffle. Mammoth’s are cool. Dodos didn’t deserve extinction. Thylacine would be fun back in Tasmania. (Tasmania is fun, but a pseudo tiger would just make it better.) Id love to see Mammoth’s roam the earth again, and I’ve learned so much about genetics while researching this topic that I cant exactly fault any of the organizations involved in this research. I also understand that using large, cool, animals to attract funding and attention is a good way to garner funds which could be used for other projects too. I don’t like the venture capitalist vibes. I don’t like the science handwaving, or unrealistic projections and presentations. I’m incredibly skeptical of the ‘improve the environment’ claims. I am even more skeptical that a Mammoth flavored Asian elephant will be born any time within the next decade (check in here by 2034 to prove me wrong.) But there are worst things resources could go through. (see a future, long researched takedown or two planned on this blog.) So fine, bring on the mammoth. But I’m not going to donate, and I won’t pay for a ticket unless I can watch my mammoths while eating a cultured Mammoth meatball which looks just like this:

Yum

Unlike usual, I put links below. I did not use proper format, except for the one online paper which had the citation copy able on the website. There’s a lot more information there, possibly some I missed or didn’t go over. Feel free to check it out, and make up your own mind.

Happy Father’s day (barely)

Links. (I’m too lazy to properly cite, every link is there.

1: Article in Smithsonian Magazine, by Alex Chun about Mammoth Meatball. This Massive Meatball Was Made With Woolly Mammoth DNA | Smithsonian (smithsonianmag.com) 2023

2: Article in Time about Sequencing Mammoth DNA by Helen Regan, https://time.com/3834056/woolly-mammoth-extinct-genome-sequence-study/ 2015

3. Eleftheria Palkopoulou, Swapan Mallick, Pontus Skoglund, et al, Complete Genomes Reveal Signatures of Demographic and Genetic Declines in the Woolly Mammoth, Current Biology, Vol 25, Issue 10, May 18th 2015. (cell.com) (read this one, it’s really interesting, also there are more links to more recent articles about mammoth genes)

4. Website for Vow a cultured meat company. They, as far as I know are not associated with efforts to bring back living breathing mammoth, and are mostly about promoting more susstainable meat consumption through cultured meat. So a lot of my critiques do not apply to them. Their science is still a bit fuzzy on how they did make their mammoth meatball though. Also the website consistantly plays music, which has been playing in the background of this entire article, so 5 out of 10.

5. A scientific American article about Mammoth Hemoglobin Ancient DNA Research Revolutionizes Scientists’ Understanding of Extinct Animals | Scientific American, by KEVIN L. CAMPBELL & MICHAEL HOFREITER. 2012

6. Colossals websited

7. Pleistocene Park Foundation’s website.

8. An article written as a blog by Green Mountain Energy about Mammoths Positive Environmental Impact. https://www.greenmountainenergy.com/blog/green-living-and-more/woolly-mammoths-climate-change

9. and 10. World Wildlife Fund’s pages on Asian and African Elephants.

not numbered, Wikipedia about Mammoth Steppe. It has good pictures

11. Schnebly, Risa Aria, "Revive & Restore’s Woolly Mammoth Revival Project". Embryo Project Encyclopedia ( 2021-01-19 ). ISSN: 1940-5030 https://hdl.handle.net/10776/13209, (the only article to give me the easy way to cite and link their article.)