When did the mammoths die out and why did this happen? Woolly mammoth

Mammoth - the ancient giant

The mammoth is one of the most massive warm-blooded animals that ever inhabited the earth. The mammoths resembled Indian elephants. However, they lived in times when severe living conditions, severe frosts were on most of the land surface.

Appearance

Their body was covered with wool and in size they surpassed modern elephants. The height of the animal could reach 5 meters. Weight - up to 18 tons. The mammoth tusk alone weighed about 100 kilograms with a length of up to 5 meters. It is surprising that in this case the animals had only 4 teeth, two for each jaw. However, the teeth were replaced about 6 times during the life, the abrasion occurred rather quickly.

Lifestyle

This gregarious animal, the most important in the family of mammoths was the eldest female. The herd of mammoths was in continuous motion, each adult animal needed up to 500 kilograms of plant food per day.

Life expectancy was about 80 years.

Spread

Once upon a time mammoths inhabited 4 continents. They were not only Australia. The remains of the ancient giant are found in Europe, the Urals, Siberia, China, North America, and even in the far north on Wrangel Island.

Why did the mammoths die?

There are two main versions of the causes of the mass extinction of an ancient animal:

dramatic climate change; rational human settlement.

People used mammoth meat for food, the skin went to clothes, household items, was used as a building material. Bones were used to build a home and even as firewood.

There are quite unusual versions associated with the fall of meteorites, the introduction of a deadly infection from space and a mass epidemic among animals.

Mammoth in ancient art

Obviously, the image of the mammoth served as inspiration for the ancient hunters. The vaults of ancient caves are covered with images of a mammoth, hunting scenes and ritual actions. From the bones of the animal and the tusks, the ancient masters made household items, household appliances, art objects.

Few archaeological facts

The mammoth bones found are very quickly destroyed in the air, after a couple of months without special treatment it is impossible to assemble a whole skeleton. Restoration with alcohol-based glue solves the problem; this method helps to prolong the integrity of the bone for several decades.

Reports from archaeologists indicate that if the bones of an animal were in the midst of the earth, the bone is stained in the color of the soil. Bones acquire different shades.

All over the world there are not too many whole skeletons of original bones. Most often, mammoth bones were found on the banks of rivers and seas. Water carried parts of the skeleton over long distances. However, the remains of these animals are also found on the territory of Russia.

In the 18th century, a mammoth tusk was exported from Russia, it went on making art objects and was valued more than ivory, thanks to its hardness and interesting color.

Most of the recent finds are related to the development of permafrost territory in Siberia. Unique finds are not limited to skeletons, there are cases of extracting whole frozen animals. This gave grounds for discussion about the possible cloning of an ancient giant. And the reports of scientists confirm this possibility.

Best Answer!

The bones of mammoths on the territory of Russia have long been found. The first information about such finds was reported by the Amsterdam burgomaster Witsen in 1692 in the “Notes on Traveling in Northeast Siberia”. Somewhat later, in 1704, Elector Ides wrote about Siberian mammoths, who, on the orders of Peter the Great, traveled through Siberia to China. In particular, he was the first to collect very interesting information that in Siberia local residents on the banks of rivers and lakes from time to time found whole mammoth carcasses. In 1720, Peter the Great handed over to the governor of Siberia A.M. Cherkassky oral decree on the search for the "intact skeleton" of the mammoth. The territory of Yakutia accounts for about 80% of all finds of remains of mammoths in the world and other fossil animals with preserved soft tissues. In 1799, for the first time in the world, an almost complete carcass of a large mammoth was discovered by a hunter O. Shumakhov in the delta of the Lena River in the area of ​​Bykovsky Cape. The mammoth was in a large earthen block, collapsed from a steep bank. O. Shumakhov waited several years while the tusks melted. The merchant R. Boltunov, who bought the tusks of this mammoth, made the first drawing of the mammoth and described it in detail. In 1806, seven years after the discovery of a mammoth, M. Adams, being in Yakutsk and hearing about this amazing discovery, organized an expedition to collect the remains of a mammoth. Unfortunately, for his arrival, a bare skeleton and some skin fragments from the right side and head were left from the carcass. The skin is also preserved on the feet and toes. For the first time in the world, a mammoth skeleton was mounted and delivered to Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg. Later this remarkable find was called the “Mammoth Adams”. One of the most sensational discoveries that received worldwide fame was the carcass of the Berezovsky mammoth. His burial was discovered in 1900 on the bank of Berezovka (right tributary of the Kolyma River) by hunter S. Tarabukin. The head of a mammoth with skin was exposed in an earthen landslide, in places it was bitten by wolves. The Petersburg Academy of Sciences, having received news of the unique discovery of a mammoth in Yakutia, immediately dispatched an expedition led by zoologist O.F. Hertz. As a result of the excavation, almost a complete mammoth carcass was removed from the frozen ground. The Berezovsky mammoth was of great scientific importance, because the almost complete carcass of the mammoth first fell into the hands of researchers. Judging by the presence of remnants of unmilled tufts of herbs found in the mouth, teeth, the estimated time of death of the mammoth is the end of summer. According to the research of the Berezovsky mammoth, several volumes of scientific papers were published. In 1910, the remains of a mammoth corpse, found in 1906 by A. Gorokhov on the River Eterikan, on the island of Bol, were excavated. Lyakhovsky. This mammoth has an almost complete skeleton, fragments of soft tissue on the head and other parts of the body, as well as hair and the remnants of the contents of the stomach. K.A. Vollosovich, who unearthed a mammoth, sold it to Count A.V. Stenbock-Fermor, who, in turn, presented it to the Paris Museum of Natural History. Interest in the discoveries of mammoths and other fossil animals increased especially after the president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, academician V.L. Komarov in 1932 signed an appeal to the population of the country "On the discovery of fossil animals." The appeal stated that the Academy of Sciences for a valuable find would give a cash reward of up to 1,000 rubles.

Squad - Trunks

Family - Elephants

Rod / Species - Mammuthus primigenius. Mammoth

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Height:   3.5 m

Tusk Length:   up to 5 m.

Weight:   5000-7000 kg.

Reproduction

Puberty:   since 10 years.

Marriage period:   no data.

Pregnancy:   22 months.

Number of cubs: 1.

LIFESTYLE

Habits:   Mammoths (see photo) - herd animals.

Food:   plants.

RELATED SPECIES

Southern Elephant ( M.meridionalisvar Archidiskodon meridionalis) appeared about 2 million years ago in the forests of southern Europe. Outwardly, he looked like. The direct ancestor of a mammoth is a trogonterian elephant (mammoth) M. trogontherii   (Middle Pleistocene), lived in the European steppes and was the first mammoth with a developed woolen cover.

Mammoths felt good in the harsh Arctic climate due to the long hair and reserves of subcutaneous fat. Paleontologists often find the remains of several animals in one place - this means that mammoths lived in herds.

FOOD

Mammoths were herbivorous animals. In England, paleontologists have found several mammoths, which are surprisingly well preserved. The researchers even managed to examine the contents of their stomachs. In the stomachs of mammoth scientists discovered the remains of leaves and branches of hazel and hornbeam. Mammoths fed on forest plants. They tore and put food into the mouth with the help of a long trunk, then chewed it with cheek teeth. The teeth of the mammoths were similar to the teeth of their contemporaries - the elephants. In the north, where the ground was covered with snow for most of the year, the mammoths fed on any available vegetation. In winter, mammoths survived thanks to large reserves of fat and evergreens.

Reproduction

Mammoths in many ways resemble modern elephants, so it is theoretically easy to imagine the process of their reproduction. The mammoth female hatched the fetus for about two years, then gave birth to one cub, which until the age of ten was raised by the whole herd (the mammoths, like the modern African and Indian elephants, kept themselves herds). At the age of ten, a young mammoth reached puberty. He could live a long life - more than 60 years.

ENEMIES

Despite its enormous growth, the mammoths were very calm and completely non-aggressive animals.

The greatest danger to the mammoths was represented by primitive people who hunted them for meat: they caught them in trap pits covered with branches and leaves and killed them with spears and axes. Primitive people fully used the carcass of the caught animal for their needs: they ate meat and fat, and made clothes from hides and covered their primitive dwellings with them. In the same area they lived, who hunted on mammoth cubs, easily killing prey with fangs, which reached 22 cm in length. Wolves were also dangerous for the little ones. at that time they were so brave that they stole prey right from the mouth of a saber-toothed tiger. According to researchers, wolves, after man, were the most dangerous enemies for mammoths.

INTERESTING INFORMATION. DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

• Mammoth ears were significantly smaller than modern elephants - this is because the cold climate reigned on Earth at that time.
• In the soil of the permafrost found the bodies of mammoths, which are well preserved.
• Mammoth petroglyphs can be seen in the Rufignac Cave in France.
• In some areas of Siberia, people often find the remains of mammoths. At the local black market you can buy the tusks of these ancient animals.
• Participants of one scientific symposium were offered small portions of mammoth steak, frozen thousands of years ago.
• In Siberia, more than 4,500 fossil remains of mammoths were found. Scientists believe that about 500 thousand tons of mammoth tusks may be contained in the soil.

FOOD AND ENEMIES OF MAMMOTH

Herbivorous mammoths   fed on leaves hazel   and hornbeam   and did not pose a danger to other animals. A man hunted them, and the young mammoths were the favorite prey saber-toothed tiger.

  -Place where the remains of the mammoths were found

WHERE AND WHEN LIVED THE MAMMOTH

The fossil remains of mammoths were found in Siberia and many places in northern Europe, in places of gravel mining in the British Isles, in northern Asia and in North America. Mammoths lived in the Arctic steppes and tundra at the end of the Pleistocene, which ended 10 thousand years ago.

ARCTIC NEIGHBORS

At one time with a mammoth in the Arctic, Europe and East Asia there lived a hairy rhino ( Coelodonta).

In the Arctic, they found a mammoth with non-freezing blood. Video (00:02:14)

In the Arctic, found a mammoth with non-freezing blood
  A unique find of Yakut scientists. On the islands of the Novosibirsk archipelago, they discovered a carcass of a female mammoth well preserved in the ice. The prehistoric animal almost retained its original appearance.
27.05.2013

Mammoth (mamont). Video (00:01:50)

In the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore there is a hall of paleontology, where the mammoth skeleton is located. And this is a video from, which asks another question for young Krasnoyarsk citizens.

Mammoth Zhenya will confirm scientific hypotheses. Video (00:07:50)

A mammoth has been discovered on Taimyr, which has lain for more than 30 thousand years in permafrost. The giant was preserved so well that it had to be rescued from dogs ready to eat fossil meat. For the first time in more than 100 years, not only the skeleton was at the disposal of paleontologists, but also most of the soft tissues of an animal - muscles, fat, and even internal organs. And already the first study of carcasses on the spot led to a sensation.

An adult mammoth in such good condition was found only in 1901 on the banks of the Berezovka river, a tributary of the Kolyma. Even a cursory examination of the new find has already made it possible to confirm several scientific hypotheses. For example, to prove that the hump of an animal is a body fat, as in, and not a feature of the skeleton.

“This was first noticed in Paleolithic drawings, and everyone thought - why are they so hunchbacked?” Says Deputy Director of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Tikhonov. “It was believed that they have very large bony processes of the thoracic vertebrae. It turns out "No. We see that this animal was perfectly adapted to the conditions of life in the north. You see, what powerful reserves of fat for the winter it saved up."

Woolly Mammoth filmed In Siberia !!! In Siberia, a live mammoth !!! Video (00:00:24)

On a stunning video, filmed by a Russian engineer, allegedly seen as a fur-covered animal, resembling an elephant in size, crosses the river in the wild Siberian more often. Like animals of those old years, the beast on the videotape has red hair and easily visible huge tusks. The animal is wagging its trunk, and its wool resembles the samples of the mammoth's hair that have survived to our day, found in the permafrost of frosty Russia. An incredible video was made last summer by an engineer working at a state enterprise in the Chukotka Autonomous Region in Siberia. Having published the video anonymously at first, the Russian said that he wanted to draw attention to the fact that woolly mammoths still exist in the vast unexplored expanses of Siberia.

MAMMOTHES(Mammuthus), a genus of extinct mammals of the family elephant (Elephantidae) of the order proboscid (Proboscidea). The exact temporal boundaries of the era of the existence of this genus and the course of changes in its range remain largely unclear. The total number of its species is also unknown, however, apparently, there were at least a dozen of them.

Since it is impossible to judge the totality of signs of mammoths from fossil remains, their classification is mainly based on the shape of the teeth. Study of frozen carcasses of a woolly mammoth ( M. primigenius), preserved under the conditions of permafrost in Siberia, and residues of Colombian mammoth litter ( M. columbi) from the dry caves of the Colorado Plateau (southern part of the Rocky Mountains) shows that in the Late Pleistocene epoch, which began about 150 thousand years ago, the basis of their diet was cereals. These species were largely specialized as herbivores; in particular, their teeth adapted to the grinding of abundant silica-rich abrasive feed by complicating the shape of the chewing surface.

The first mammoths appeared in Africa at the beginning of the Pliocene (ca. 5 million years ago), and by the end of this era (approximately 2 million years ago) the genus colonized most of the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, the mammoths migrated from Asia through the isthmus, which connected it to Alaska on the site of the Bering Strait, during a decrease in sea level of ca. 2 million years ago. The genus almost completely died out about 11 thousand years ago, although the isolated population of the woolly mammoth remained on Wrangel Island in the Arctic, possibly 3,000 years ago.

The largest mammoths, such as the mammoth steppe ( M. trogontherii), lived in the forest-steppe and meadow steppe of Eurasia in the Pliocene and early Pleistocene, i.e. about 5-1.5 million years ago. The adult male reached 4.5 meters at the withers, weighed up to 18 tons and had tusks with a total length of up to 5 meters. The woolly mammoth, so named for thick fur, was abundant in the northern areas at the end of the Pleistocene and reached about 3 meters at the withers. famous mammoth - M. lamarmorae   - was less than 1.5 m high and lived on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia in the Late Pleistocene.

Mammoth bones are often found at the sites of primitive people, along with primitive tools such as arrowheads and knives, made more than 25 thousand years ago. Climate change and hunting are considered the main factors that led to the extinction of many Late Pleistocene populations of mammoths.

Comparative studies show that mammoths were close to today's elephants in terms of their biological features and behavior. They reached puberty in 10-15 years. At this age, the males left the maternal groups, while the females and the young remained together under the direction of the "matriarch" - the older female, who is the mother and grandmother of the rest of the herd. Mature males lived singly or in bachelor groups. They were almost twice as heavy as adult females and a third higher. Mammoth life expectancy was about the same as that of modern elephants, i.e. no more than 60-65 years.

Essay on the topic:

Plan:

  Introduction

• 1 Phenotype
• 2 extinction
• 3 Skeleton
• 4 Study history
• 5 Traditions of Ob Ugrians, Nenets, Komi and Mammoth
• 6 Legends of american indians about mammoths
• 7 origin of name
• 8 Mammoth bone
• 9 Exhibits in museums
• 10 Interesting Facts
• 11 Mammoths in heraldry
   Notes

Introduction

Mamonts   (lat. Mammuthus) - an extinct genus of mammals from the family of elephants, who lived in the Quaternary. Some individuals reached a height of 5.5 meters and a mass of 10-12 tons. Thus, the mammoths were twice as heavy as the largest modern land mammals - African elephants.

  1. Phenotype

Mammoths appeared in the Pliocene and lived 4.8 million - 4500 years ago in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Numerous mammoth bones found in the sites of an ancient Stone Age man; drawings and sculptures of mammoths made by a prehistoric man were also discovered. In Siberia and Alaska, there are cases of the presence of the corpses of mammoths, preserved thanks to their stay in the permafrost. The main species of mammoths did not exceed the size of modern elephants (with the North American subspecies Mammuthus imperator   reached a height of 5 meters and a mass of 12 tons, and dwarf species Mammuthus exilis   and Mammuthus lamarmorae   did not exceed 2 meters in height and were weighing up to 900 kg), but had a more massive body, shorter legs, long hair and long curved tusks; the latter could serve the mammoth for getting food in winter from under the snow. Mammoth molars with numerous thin dentine-enamel plates were well adapted for chewing on rough vegetable food.

Extracted from the permafrost of the mammoth Dima

  2. Extinction

Mammoths died out about 10 thousand years ago during the last Ice Age. According to many scientists, the Upper Paleolithic hunters played a significant or even decisive role in this extinction. According to another point of view, the process of extinction began before the appearance of people in the respective territories.

In 1993, Nature magazine published information about a stunning discovery made on Wrangel Island. A member of the reserve, Sergei Vartanyan, discovered the remains of mammoths on the island, whose age was determined from 7 to 3.5 thousand years. Subsequently, it was discovered that these remains belong to a special relatively small subspecies that inhabited Wrangel Island when the Egyptian pyramids were already standing, and which disappeared only during the reign of Tutankhamun (c. 1355-1337 BC) and the heyday of Mycenaean civilization.

One of the latest, most massive and southernmost burial grounds of mammoths is located on the territory of the Kargatsky district of the Novosibirsk region, in the upper reaches of the Bagan river in the area of ​​“Wolf Mane. It is assumed that there are at least 1,500 skeletons of mammoths here. Some of the bones bear traces of processing by humans, which allows us to build various hypotheses about the ancient people living on the territory of Siberia.

Mammoth skeleton

  3. Skeleton

According to the structure of the skeleton, the mammoth represents a significant similarity with the currently living Indian elephant, which was somewhat superior in size, reaching 5.5 m in length and 3.1 m in height. Mammoth's enormous tusks, up to 4 m in length, weighing up to 100 kg, were located in the upper jaw, were exposed forward, bent upwards and diverged to the sides.

The molars, of which the mammoths had one each in each half of the jaw, are somewhat wider than those of the elephant, and are distinguished by a greater number and hardness of the lamellar enamel boxes filled with dental substance. Interestingly, as the mammoth's teeth were abrading (like modern elephants) changed to new ones, such a shift could take place up to 6 times during the lifetime: 17.

  4. History of study

Map of Mammoth Bones in Northeast Siberia

The bones and especially molars of the mammoths were found quite often in the sediments of the glacial epoch of Europe and Siberia and were known for a long time and by their immense size, with general medieval ignorance and superstition, they were attributed to extinct giants. In Valencia, the mammoth molar was revered as part of the relics of St. Christopher, and in 1789 the canons of St.. Vincent wore the mammoth's femoral bone in its processions, passing it off for the remainder of the hand of the named saint. It was possible to learn more about the mammoth's anatomy after the Tungus was discovered in 1799 in the permafrost soil of Siberia, near the mouth of the Lena River, a whole mammoth corpse, washed by spring waters and perfectly preserved - with meat, skin and hair. After 7 years, in 1806, the Adams sent the Academy of Sciences managed to collect an almost complete skeleton of an animal, with partly surviving ligaments, part of the skin, some insides, eyes, and up to 30 pounds of hair; all the rest was destroyed by wolves, bears and dogs. In Siberia, the tusks of mammoths, washed out by spring waters and collected by the natives, were the subject of considerable holiday trade, replacing ivory in turning products.

  5. Traditions of Ob Ugrians, Nenets, Komi and Mammoths

The Komi, like other peoples of the North, often found mammoth bones in sediments on the banks of rivers and cut bone pipes, handles, and so on from them. In the Komi myths it is told about the whole sleds made from the mammoth bone. The “earthen deer”, in the ideas of the Komi (as well as the Nenets, Khanty and Mansi), lived in the initial times of creation. He was so heavy that he fell into the ground on the chest. Its paths created the beds of rivers and streams and, in the end, the water flooded the whole earth (Komi, familiar with the biblical deluge, say that the mammoth wanted to escape in Noah's Ark, but could not fit there). The mammoth sailed on the waters, but the birds sat on his "horns", and the beast drowned. Sysol Komi-miners told about mu kule   - Underground feature, from which there are giant fossils under the ground.

  6. Legends of American Indians about Mammoths

Mammuthus

Mammuthus

According to Thomas Jefferson, the Indians called the mammoth (whose remains were often found in America) "big bison." According to the legend that existed among the Delaware, the herds of these animals once came to the Big Bose Fox and began the extermination of all other animals “created for the good of the Indians”, until finally the Big Man Upstairs, indignant, did not interrupt with lightning all the “big bison”. Only one bull survived, repelling all the blows and being wounded to the side, “jumped over huge jumps over Ohio, Wabash, Illinois and finally through the Great Lakes to the places where it lives to this day” (i.e., it went far to the North) . Further, Jefferson cites the story of a certain Stanley, who in captivity among the Indians saw a mammoth cemetery: “The natives told him that the animal whose breed these bones belong to is still found in the northern parts of their lands. According to their description, he decided that it was an elephant. " These details make us suspect that the Indians still had a vague memory of the mammoths and their retreat to the north, going back to the Paleolithic era.

  7. Origin of the name

Russian word mammoth   presumably derived from the Mansi mang ont   - “earthen horn” (there are other etymologies) and close to the Christian name Mamant, dr.-rus. A mammoth (commemorated on September 2 st. Of Art.) Which in Greek means “maternal”, “sucking maternal breast”, from the late μαμμα (mamma) - “mother”. From the Russian language the word fell into many European languages, in particular in English (in the form of English. Mammoth).

  8. Mammoth bone

Carved box of mammoth tusk

Mammoth on the Russian coin (1992)

The mammoth tusk is stronger than ivory and has a unique color range. For thousands of years spent under the ground, tusks have undergone gradual mineralization and acquired a variety of shades - from milky white and pinkish to blue-violet. The master darkening of the material is highly appreciated. Due to the unique color, the mammoth tusk has long been used to create expensive boxes, snuffboxes, figurines, chess, magnificent crests, bracelets and women's jewelry. They are also encrusted with weapons.

  9. Exhibits in museums

A unique stuffed adult mammoth (the so-called “Berezovsky mammoth”) can be seen in the Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The mammoth skeleton can be seen:

• • in Moscow - in the Paleontological Museum. Yu. A. Orlova
  • in Moscow - in the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
  • in Moscow - at the Our Ice Age Museum Theater
  • in St. Petersburg - in the Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
  • in Penza - in the museum of local lore
  • in Azov - in the museum of local lore
  • in Yakutsk - in the Museum of the Mammoth of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha
  • in Novosibirsk - in the museum of local lore, as well as in the foyer of the Institute of Archeology of the SB RAS
  • in Yekaterinburg - in the museum of local lore
  • in Nizhny Tagil - in the Museum of Nature and Environmental Protection (skeletons of mammoth and mammoth).
  • in Tobolsk - in the Tobolsk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve
  • in Tomsk - in the TSU paleontological museum
  • in Omsk - in the museum of local lore
  • in Bryansk - in the museum of local lore
  • in Khanty-Mansiysk - in the Museum of Nature and Man. It also exhibits one of the most complete skeletons of the ancestor of the woolly mammoth, the trogonterian elephant.
  • in Paris - in the Paleontological Museum of the Paris Museum of Natural History
  • in Krasnoyarsk - in the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local History
  • in Tyumen - in the museum of local lore
  • in Stavropol - in the Local Lore Museum the skeleton of the Southern Sloan (Discovered in the Kosyansky quarry (Stavropol Territory)).
  • in Lugansk - in the museum of local lore
  • in Kharkov - in the Museum of Nature of the KhNU. Karazin
  • in Donetsk - in the museum of local lore
  • in the excursion cave of Emine-Bair-Khosar (Crimea, Mount Chatyr-Dag) - Mammoth Kohl
  • in Perm - in the regional museum
  • in Kazan - in the Stukenberg Geological Museum of Kazan Federal University
  • in Poltava - in the museum of local lore
  • in Khatanga - at the Mammoth Museum

  10. Interesting facts

• Currently, in the framework of the Pleistocene Park project (and many others), the possibility of restoring a mammoth with the help of genetic material that has been preserved in frozen animal carcasses is being investigated. But until success is achieved.
• In the village of Kuleshovka, Sumy region, in Ukraine, there is a monument to the mammoth, established in 1841.
• On the bank of the river Ob at the ferry crossing of the city of Salekhard of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District there is a monument to the mammoth in full growth
• Genetically continental mammoths are divided into 3 groups:

   1. Asian group, which appeared more than 450 thousand years ago; 2. The American group, which appeared about 450 thousand years ago; 3. Intercontinental group, resettled from North America about 300 thousand years ago

  11. Mammoths in heraldry

The image of a mammoth can be seen on the emblems of cities.

It is not possible to fully imagine the atmosphere of the last ice age without a couple or three shaggy mammoths stomping across the frozen tundra. But how much do you know about these legendary animals? Below are 10 amazing and interesting facts about mammoths that you might not know.

1. Mammoth tusks reached 4 m in length

In addition to long shaggy coats, mammoths are known for their huge tusks, which in large males reached 4 m in length. Such large tusks most likely characterized sexual attractiveness: males with longer, curved and impressive tusks were able to mate with a large number of females during the breeding season. Also, tusks could be used for defensive purposes to drive away hungry saber-toothed tigers, although there is no direct fossil evidence to support this theory.

2. Mammoths were the favorite prey of primitive people.

The giant size of the mammoth (about 5 m in height and weighing 5-7 tons) made it a particularly desirable prey for primitive hunters. Thick woolen skins could provide warmth in cold times, and tasty fatty meat served as an indispensable source of food. There is an assumption that the patience, planning and cooperation necessary to catch mammoths, have become a key factor in the development of human civilization!

3. Mammoths immortalized in cave painting

From 30,000 to 12,000 years ago, the mammoth was one of the most popular objects of Neolithic artists who depicted the images of this shaggy beast on the walls of numerous caves in Western Europe. Perhaps primitive paintings were intended as totems (that is, early people believed that the image of a mammoth in petroglyphs facilitated its capture in real life). Also, the drawings could serve as objects of worship or talented primitive artists were simply bored on a cold, rainy day! :)

4. Mammoths were not the only woolly mammals at the time.

Any warm-blooded to some extent need wool, preserving body heat. One of the mammoth's fellows in shaggyness was the lesser-known woolly rhinoceros, wandering through the plains of Eurasia in the Pleistocene era. Woolly rhinos, as well as mammoths, often became the prey of primitive hunters, which could be considered easier prey.

5. The mammoth genus included many species.

The well-known woolly mammoth, in fact, was one of several species belonging to the mammoth genus. A dozen other species lived in North America and Eurasia during the Pleistocene era, including the steppe mammoth, the Columbus mammoth, the pygmy mammoth and others. However, none of these species was as widely distributed as the woolly mammoth.

6. Mammoth Sungari (Mammuthus sungari)   was the largest of all species

Some individuals of the mammoth Sungari (Mammuthus sungari) living in Northern China, reached a mass of about 13 tons (compared to such giants, 5-7 tons of woolly mammoth seemed shorty). In the western hemisphere, the palm belonged to the imperial mammoth (Mammuthus imperator), the males of this species had a mass of more than 10 tons.

7. Under the skin of the mammoths was an impressive layer of fat.

Even the thickest skin and thick wool coat is not able to fully provide sufficient protection during the harsh Arctic storms. For this reason, under the skin of mammoths there was a 10 centimeter layer of fat, which served as additional insulation and maintained the heat of their bodies in the most severe climatic conditions.

By the way, as far as we can judge from the surviving remains, the color of mammoth wool varied from light to dark brown, just like human hair.

8. The last mammoths died out about 4,000 years ago.

By the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, mammoth populations around the world had practically disappeared from the face of the earth due to climate change and constant hunting by humans. The exception was a small population of mammoths that lived on Wrangel Island off the coast of Siberia until 1700 BC. Because of the limited forage base, the mammoths from Wrangel Island were much smaller than their counterparts from the mainland, for which they were often called dwarf elephants.

9. Many bodies of mammoths are preserved in the permafrost.

Even today, 10,000 years after the last ice age, in the northern regions of Canada, Alaska and Siberia, a very cold climate is kept, keeping the numerous bodies of mammoths virtually untouched. Identifying and retrieving giant cadavers from a block of ice is a fairly simple task; it is much more difficult to keep the remains at room temperature.

10. Scientists are able to clone mammoth

Since, mammoths became extinct relatively recently and modern elephants are their closest relatives, scientists are able to collect mammoths DNA and incubate it in an elephant's female (a process known as “extinction”). Researchers recently announced that they almost completely deciphered the genomes of two 40,000-year-old samples. Unfortunately or fortunately, the same trick will not work with dinosaurs, since DNA has not been preserved so well for tens of millions of years.