Researchers have carried out an extensive genetic analysis of the woolly mammoths and their living cousins, Asian and African elephants. From the analysis, the researchers have come to know as to how these bygone ice giants have survived such extreme climatic conditions of Arctic.

Researchers used to wonder as to how woolly mammoths might have spent their lives in extreme Arctic conditions having frigid temperatures. But after carrying out a comprehensive analysis, they have come to know how woolly mammoths had thrived in such adverse conditions.

The research published in the journal Cell Reports is based on comparative analysis of the genomes of two mammoths whose remains were found in permafrost in northeastern Siberia. One of the mammoths was 18,500 years old and the other 60,000 years old.

The researchers have also assessed the genomes of three Asian elephants and one African elephant. University of Chicago geneticist Vincent Lynch said that upon assessment they have found that mammoths had genetic changes that were linked with skin and hair development, fat biology, insulin biology and temperature tolerance.

These changes made them different from the elephants. Lynch said, "We think that these changes make sense in mammoths because we know that mammoths evolved long, thick hair, large fat deposits and lived in really cold places".

The researchers said insulin signaling is crucial for fat biology. It has been said so as insulin controls the amount of sugar in the blood that will be converted to energy and fat. The researchers have even transplanted the mammoth version of a gene called TRPV3 into human cells.

They realized that the cell produced a protein that was less responsive than its elephant version making mammoths less sensitive to cold.