Mammoths and other extinct Ice Age giants clung on longer than previously thought, DNA analysis suggests

Climate change, not hunting by humans, likely caused their extinction, scientists say.

The scientists involved in the project collected 535 samples of permafrost and sediment from frozen lakes, often in extremely cold locations from across Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia, in 73 locations where the remains of mammoths have been found.

Analysis of DNA contained in the soil showed that mammoths were living in mainland Siberia 3,900 years ago -- after the Great Pyramid of Giza was built in Egypt and the megaliths of Stonehenge were erected.