News Excerpt:

Researchers used a well-known laser technique to tell mammoth and elephant ivory apart and identify the origin of a piece of ivory.

More about News:

• Global trade in elephant ivory faces significant restrictions to protect dwindling elephant populations, while the trade of mammoth ivory remains unregulated.
• It is a challenge for authorities to distinguish between ivory from extinct mammoths and living elephants, as the process is time-consuming and requires destroying the ivory.
• A new study published in PLOS ONE presents a breakthrough by using a laser technique to differentiate mammoth and elephant ivory.
• The African elephant population has declined dramatically from approximately 12 million a century ago to about 400,000 today, with over 20,000 elephants poached annually for ivory, primarily in Africa.
• The decline in elephant populations disrupts ecological balance, diminishes biodiversity, and highlights the urgent need for conservation efforts.
• The new regulations are leading to a rise in "mammoth hunters" who deliberately excavate mammoth remains from the Siberian permafrost in the summer months, driven by the lucrative market for mammoth ivory.
• The activities of mammoth hunters have commercial implications but also raise ethical and environmental concerns, as they disturb preserved ecosystems and involve the extraction of resources valuable to paleontological science.

About Raman spectroscopy

• A non-invasive laser technique known as Raman spectroscopy is used to identify the origin of a piece of ivory.
• Raman spectroscopy directs a laser light onto the ivory sample.
• The energy from the laser light is temporarily absorbed by the bonds between molecules in the ivory sample, and then almost instantly re-released.
• The released light scatters back with more or less energy than the initial laser light sent to the sample.
• The scattered light carries information about the molecular vibrations within the ivory material, providing a unique pattern of light for each type of ivory.
• The analysis involves studying the differences between these unique light fingerprints.

Important implications

• This method offers several advantages over traditional techniques for ivory analysis.
• Raman spectroscopy is non-destructive and can be performed quickly making it an ideal tool for customs officials .
• The study was conducted on a benchtop spectrometer in a laboratory, but research suggests cheaper and portable, handheld Raman spectrometers could potentially offer equivalent results.
• Further research is needed to refine the technique and expand the database of ivory signatures, 
• which could enhance the accuracy of species identification.
• With more data, the technique could potentially detect finer distinctions, 
• such as the age of the ivory or specific environmental conditions where the elephants or mammoths lived.
• Other non-destructive techniques like X-Ray fluorescence spectroscopy could complement Raman spectroscopy in identifying the geographical origin of the ivory.
• It could play a key role in global conservation efforts by helping to prevent the illegal trade of elephant ivory being an accessible and widely adopted technique.