Mammoths Endured Musth, the Wild Process that Affects Bull Elephants

A new study that ground down mammoths tusks concludes that the megafauna had massive surges of testosterone every year, and thus, musth.

By Matt Hrodey
May 3, 2023 4:50 PM
Mammoth
Woolly mammoths may have undergone an annual process called muth. (Credit: Ishibashi Seiichi/Shutterstock)

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“Musth,” an annual ordeal which turns male elephants into oozing, aggressive pachyderms, appears to have also affected male mammoths that lived thousands of years ago, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Michigan led a team that procured a male mammoth tusk first discovered by a diamond-mining company in Siberia in 2007. From this massive tooth, they would detect ancient testosterone levels using a novel method.

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