The newly launched Adopt a Mammoth program encourages sponsorship of each of the roughly 1,500 teeth, tusks and bones in the University of Alaska Museum of the North’s collection. A $350 donation will pay for radiocarbon testing to date the fossil, and a lab in Sweden will offer free DNA analysis for each adopted specimen to determine its sex and other genetic characteristics.
The larger goal is to find the “youngest” mammoth — a specimen from 10,000 years ago or more recent. This would extend the date of extinction on the mainland to a period well after the earliest people arrived in Interior Alaska.
Read the full story on University of Alaska Fairbank's website: https://uaf.edu/news/museum-of-north-launches-adopt-a-mammoth-program.php#gsc.tab=0
Find more information about the program on the Adopt a Mammoth program website.
Additional contact:
Matthew Wooller, 907-474-6738, mjwooller@alaska.edu