Most hybrid pairings involved Columbian male mammoths mating with woolly mammoth females, pointing to specific cross-breeding patterns that may have facilitated gene flow between species.

The evidence of hybridization aligns with previous research, including findings of ancient gene flow in a 1.2-million-year-old Siberian steppe mammoth, indicating that interbreeding among mammoth species was more common than previously thought.

Fossilized mammoth teeth discovered in Canada further support this, showing that woolly and Columbian mammoths interbred, challenging earlier beliefs that their populations were largely separate with rare contact.

Recent genetic analysis of 36,000-year-old and 25,000-year-old mammoth teeth reveals significant hybridization, with the older tooth containing about 21% Columbian mammoth DNA and the younger about 35%, indicating ongoing interbreeding during glacial periods.

This discovery sheds new light on mammoth evolution, suggesting that hybridization played a crucial role in their survival amid climate changes and offering insights into their extinction and the evolution of related species like modern elephants.