CANBERRA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Humans played a major role in the extinction of woolly mammoths, a study has found.

In a study published on Thursday, a team of international scientists led by the University of Adelaide and University of Copenhagen mapped the 20,000 year pathway to extinction for the woolly mammoth.

It revealed that humans accelerated their extinction by up to 4,000 years in parts of Eurasia.

Damien Fordham, lead author of the study from the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute, said that the human impact on woolly mammoths had never been measured before.

"Our research shows that humans were a crucial and chronic driver of population declines of woolly mammoths, having an essential role in the timing and location of their extinction."

Using computer models, fossils and ancient DNA, they identified the very mechanisms and threats that were integral in the initial decline and later extinction of the woolly mammoth.

"We know that humans exploited woolly mammoths for meat, skins, bones and ivory. However, until now it has been difficult to disentangle the exact roles that climate warming and human hunting had on its extinction," said Fordham.

The University of Adelaide study also found that wooly mammoths, a close relative of modern Asian elephants, survived in the Arctic for thousands of years longer than previously thought, living mostly in areas with few humans. Enditem

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