Final answer:
Factors that may have contributed to the extinction of the woolly mammoth and other abundant animals include catastrophic events like asteroid impacts and volcanic activity, severe climate shifts such as the last Ice Age, and human activities like overhunting and habitat destruction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Rocky Mountain Migratory Grasshopper, often referred to in relation to its extinction, is actually not the most abundant animal to have ever lived; that title can be attributed to microscopic organisms or even other insect species like ants. However, when discussing the extinction of very abundant species such as the locator insect, the woolly mammoth, or prehistoric megafauna, we must consider various factors that could have contributed to their disappearance.
Massive extinctions have been caused by cataclysmic events like asteroid impacts, which ended the reign of the dinosaurs, or severe climate changes during periods of glaciation and subsequent warming, which led to the Ordovician-Silurian extinction. Volcanic activity is another notable cause leading to large scale die-offs, such as the Permian mass extinction. In more recent times, extinctions have been primarily driven by human activities, whether by overhunting like with the North American bison, or by habitat destruction.
For the woolly mammoth specifically, the two main theories for their extinction are environmental changes due to the last Ice Age and overhunting by humans. Researchers have found correlations between the arrival of human hunters and the extinction of many megafauna, suggesting that in addition to natural climate shifts, human factors played a significant role in their disappearance.
In summary, while a variety of catastrophic natural events have triggered past mass extinctions, human activities have become increasingly significant in recent times, particularly with megafauna like the woolly mammoth.