The difference between a mammoth and an elephant. Woolly mammoth, how much does a mammoth weigh? During what culture mammoths died out
It is still unclear why mammoths became extinct. And although they survived on the Arctic island of Wrangel to the time of the construction of the Egyptian pyramids, there is no written evidence of the reasons for the disappearance of mammoths from our planet.
If we reject the assumptions about the fall of meteorites, the eruption of volcanoes and other natural disasters, the main reasons will be climate and people.
In 2008, an unusual accumulation of bones of mammoths and other animals was discovered, which could not have appeared as a result of natural processes, for example, hunting predators or animal deaths. These were the skeletal remains of at least 26 mammoths, and the bones were decomposed by species.
Apparently, people for a long time kept the most interesting bones for them, some of which bear traces of tools. And there was no shortage of hunting weapons for people at the end of the ice age.
How were parts of the carcasses delivered to the parking lots? And Belgian archaeozoologists have an answer to this: they could transport meat and tusks from the place of cutting on dogs.
Mammoths became extinct about 10 thousand years ago during the last Ice Age. Some experts do not exclude that the climate has changed man ... destroying mammoths and other northern giants. With the disappearance of large mammals producing large volumes of methane, the level of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere was supposed to decrease by about 200 units. This led to a cooling at 9-12 ° C about 14 thousand years ago.
Mammoths reached a height of 5.5 meters and a body weight of 10-12 tons. Thus, these giants were twice as heavy as the largest modern terrestrial mammals - African elephants.
In Siberia and Alaska, cases of the presence of mammoth corpses, preserved due to their stay in the thickness of permafrost, are known. Therefore, scientists are not dealing with individual fossils or several bones of skeletons, but can even study the blood, muscles, hair of these animals and determine also what they ate.
Mammoths possessed a massive body, long hair and long curved tusks; the latter could serve the mammoth to get food in the winter from under the snow. Mammoth skeleton:
By the structure of the skeleton, the mammoth represents a significant resemblance to the now-living Indian elephant. Huge mammoth tusks, up to 4 m in length, weighing up to 100 kg, were located in the upper jaw, stood forward, bent up and diverged to the sides. Mammoth and mastodon is another extinct gigantic trunk mammal:
It is interesting that as the abrasion occurs, the mammoth's teeth (like those of modern elephants) changed to new ones, and such a change could take place up to 6 times in a lifetime. Monument to the mammoth in Salekhard:
The most famous type of mammoth is the woolly mammoth (lat. Mammuthus primigenius). It appeared on the territory of Siberia 200-300 thousand years ago, from where it spread to Europe and North America.
Woolly mammoth - the most exotic animal of the Ice Age, is its symbol. These giants, mammoths at the withers reached 3.5 m and weighed 4-6 tons. The mammoths were protected from the cold by a thick long coat with developed undercoat, which was more than a meter long on the shoulders, hips and sides, as well as a layer of fat up to 9 cm thick. 12-13 thousand years ago, mammoths lived throughout Northern Eurasia and in a large part of North America . Due to climate warming, the habitats of mammoths - the tundra steppe - have declined. Mammoths migrated to the north of the mainland and for the last 9-10 thousand years lived on a narrow strip of land along the Arctic coast of Eurasia, which is now mostly flooded by the sea. The last mammoths lived on Wrangel Island, where they died out about 3,500 years ago.
In winter, the coarse wool of the mammoth consisted of hair 90 cm long. An additional thermal insulation was a layer of fat about 10 cm thick.
Mammoths are herbivorous, fed mainly on herbaceous plants (cereals, sedge, forbs), small bushes (dwarf birch, willow), tree shoots and moss. In winter, in order to feed themselves, they raked snow with their forelimbs and extremely developed upper incisor tusks, the length of which for large males was more than 4 meters, and they weighed about 100 kg. The mammoth's teeth were well suited for grinding coarse food. Each of the 4 teeth of a mammoth changed five times during its life. On the day, the mammoth ate 200-300 kg of vegetation, that is, he had to eat 18-20 hours a day and move around all the time in search of new pastures.
It is believed that live mammoths were painted black or dark brown. Since they had small ears and short trunks (compared to modern elephants), the woolly mammoth was adapted to live in cold climates.
Thanks to mammoths, rulers of the northern circumpolar steppes and tundra, the ancient man survived in harsh conditions: they gave him food and clothing, a dwelling, sheltered from the cold. So, mammoth meat, subcutaneous and abdominal fat were used for nutrition; for clothes - hides, veins, wool; for the manufacture of dwellings, implements, hunting equipment and equipment and handicrafts - tusks and bones.
In the era of the ice age, the woolly mammoth was the largest animal in the Eurasian expanses.
It is assumed that woolly mammoths lived in groups of 2-9 individuals and were led by their older females.
The life expectancy of mammoths was approximately the same as that of modern elephants, i.e. no more than 60-65 years.
“A mammoth in its liking is a meek and peaceful animal, and affectionate to people. When meeting with a man, a mammoth not only does not attack him, but even clings and has a fondness for a man ”(from the records of the Tobolsk local historian P. Gorodtsov, XIX century).
The largest number of mammoth bones are found in Siberia. Giant mammoth cemetery - Novosibirsk Islands. In the last century, up to 20 tons of elephant tusks were mined there annually. Monument to mammoths in Khanty-Mansiysk:
In Yakutia there is an auction where you can buy the remains of mammoths. The approximate price of a kilogram of mammoth tusk is $ 200.
Unique finds.
Mammoth Adams 
The world's first mammoth was found in 1799 in the lower reaches of the Lena River by hunter O. Shumakhov, who, in search of mammoth tusks, reached the Lena River Delta. A huge block of frozen earth and ice, where he found a mammoth tusk, completely thawed only in the summer of 1804. In 1806, the Adjunct of Zoology of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences M. Adams was informed about the find by M. Adams. Upon arriving at the site, he discovered the skeleton of a mammoth, eaten by wild animals and dogs. The skin was preserved on the head of the mammoth, one ear, dried eyes and brain also survived, and on the side on which it lay there was skin with thick long hair. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the zoologist, the skeleton was delivered to Petersburg in the same year. So, in 1808, for the first time in the world, a complete skeleton of a mammoth - the mammoth Adams was mounted. Currently, he, like the mammoth Dima, is exhibited in the museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.
In 1970, on the left bank of the Berelekh River, the left tributary of the Indigirka River (90 km northwest of the village of Chokurdakh of the Allaikhovsky ulus), a huge accumulation of bone remains was found that belonged to about 160 mammoths that lived 13 thousand years ago. Nearby was the home of ancient hunters. By the number and quality of preserved fragments of mammoth bodies, the Berelekhsky cemetery is the largest in the world. It testifies to the mass mortality of animals weakened and trapped in a snow drift.
Scientists have tried to establish the cause of the death of a huge number of mammoths on the Berelekh River. During these works, the frozen hind leg of a small adult mammoth 170 cm long was found. For many thousands of years, the leg was mummified, but it was preserved quite well - along with the skin and hair, individual strands of which reached a length of 120 cm. in 13 thousand years. The age of other mammoth bones found that were later procured ranged from 14 to 12 thousand years. The remains of other animals were found at the burial. For example, next to the frozen leg of a mammoth were found frozen and mummified corpses of ancient wolverines and partridge, who lived in the same era as mammoths. The bones of other animals, woolly rhinoceros, an ancient horse, bison, musk ox, reindeer, white hare, and wolf that lived in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Berelekhsky location in the Ice Age were relatively few - less than 1%. Mammoth bones accounted for more than 99.3% of all finds.
Currently, paleontological materials from the Berelekhsky cemetery are stored at the Institute of Geology of Diamond and Noble Metals of the SB RAS in Yakutsk.
Shandrinsky mammoth
In 1971, D. Kuzmin on the right bank of the Shandrin River, which flows into the channel of the Indigirka River Delta, discovered the skeleton of a mammoth who lived 41 thousand years ago. Inside the skeleton was a frozen lump of viscera. In the gastrointestinal tract were found the remains of plants, consisting of herbs, branches, shrubs, seeds. So, thanks to this, one of the five unique residues of the contents of the gastrointestinal tract of mammoths (cut size 70x35 cm), it was possible to find out the diet of the animal. The mammoth was a large male of 60 years old and apparently died from an elder and physical exhaustion. The skeleton of the Shandrinsky mammoth is at the Institute of History and Philosophy of the SB RAS.
Mammoth Dima 
In 1977, a well-preserved 7-8 month old mammoth cub was discovered in the Kolyma river basin. Touching and sad was the sight for prospectors who discovered the mammoth Dima (as he was named after the key of the same name, in the decay of which he was found): he was lying on his side with mournfully extended legs, with closed basins and a crumpled trunk.
The find immediately became a world sensation due to the excellent preservation and the possible cause of the death of the mammoth. The poet Stepan Shchipachev composed a touching poem about a mammoth baby, who fell behind mother of a mammoth, and an animated film was shot about an unfortunate mammoth.
Yukagir mammoth
In 2002, near the Muksunuokha River, 30 km from the village of Yukagir, schoolchildren Innokenty and Grigory Gorokhov found the head of a male mammoth. In 2003 - 2004 the rest of the corpse was excavated. The head with tusks, with most of the skin, the left ear and the orbit, and the left front leg, consisting of the forearm and with muscles and tendons, are best preserved. Of the remaining parts, the cervical and thoracic vertebrae, part of the ribs, shoulder blades, right humerus, part of the insides, and wool were found. According to radiocarbon analysis, the mammoth lived 18 thousand years ago. A male about 3 m tall at the withers and weighing 4 - 5 tons died at the age of 40 - 50 years (for comparison: the average life expectancy of modern elephants is 60 - 70 years), probably after falling into a hole. Currently, everyone can see the layout of the mammoth’s head in the Museum of the Mammoth of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North in Yakutsk.
Among the thousands of extinct species, there is an animal mammoth. Scientists are trying to reproduce this view. But they are unable to find viable cells for IVF. Probably, people will never see a living mammoth, but we can tell you about it.
These mysterious mammoth animals
Man has always been and will be interested in what our Earth was in antiquity, what plants grew on it, what animals inhabited its vast expanses.
Through numerous archaeological excavations, scientists have discovered the existence of mysterious animals that lived on Earth 2 million years ago.
Recovered from the skeleton and bones, these huge animals, almost 6 m high and weighing 12 tons, inspire fear. Their tusks, bent up to 4 m long, looked especially threatening.
In fact, despite their large size, these animals were harmless, as they ate one plant food. To grind this rough food, nature awarded the beast with a special structure of teeth in the form of many thin plates.
Who are mammoths
Have you guessed who this is? Of course, these are mammoths. Long-time ancestors of modern elephants, they lived on almost all continents - North America, Africa, Eurasia. But even though mammoths look like elephants, they were twice as large as their largest species today - African elephants.
Of the external signs, besides a massive body and curved tusks, still short legs and long hair are characteristic.
One type of mammoth that lived in Siberia 300 thousand years ago was called woolly.
All About Woolly Mammoth
His coat was thick and almost 1 m long. It is clear that she constantly got stuck in hanging shreds. Thick undercoat prevented the animal from freezing in winter.
A 10 cm thick layer of fat under the skin served the same purpose. The color of the coat was most likely dark brown or black. Although the remaining hair remains more reddish in color, but scientists believe that it simply faded.
Woolly mammoths were not as large as all species. And they disappeared from the Earth the very last.
It was possible to establish that the lifestyle of mammoths was the same as elephants. They lived in a group. There were often 9 mammoths of different ages in it. The female commanded everything, that is, these animals had matriarchy. The males lived separately from the group.
Their main food is grass. But the branches of various deciduous trees and even pine trees also ate. This was established after examining the contents of the mammoth’s stomach found on the Indigirka River.
In general, their remains were often found in Siberia. The largest burial was found in the Novosibirsk region. Bones of 1,500 individuals are buried under the earth!
Many bones were already processed by humans. This suggests that mammoth bones and tusks have long been used by people in their needs.
Nowadays, a mammoth tusk is a valuable material for the manufacture of expensive and beautiful figurines, caskets, chess, beautiful bracelets, crests and other souvenirs and jewelry. Weapon inlaid weapons are also much appreciated by collectors.
Why mammoths died out
Mammoth Dima - he had hopes for reproducing this lost animal species They name two reasons for the disappearance of mammoths.
- The first is that they were simply destroyed by people for food.
- The second is global cooling. The vegetation that the mammoths were eating on and, accordingly, the animals died.
It has not yet been possible to establish the exact reasons, therefore, other, sometimes exotic, versions have been put forward.
The remains of some mammoths have been preserved so well that many museums have life-size stuffed animals. For example, in the Zoological Museum of the Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences there is one of such unique exhibits. It seems that he is about to raise a huge paw and move.
It is believed that the word "mammoth" came from the phrase "mang ont", which is translated from Mansi means "earthen horn." Then it went into other languages \u200b\u200bof the world, including English. These huge animals lived in the Pleistocene era. They inhabited the territory of Europe, North Asia and North America. Many researchers and archaeologists are still concerned about the mystery: how did these animals disappear from the face of the earth?
Finds in Russia
Mammoth is an extinct animal species. He is one of the closest relatives of the elephant. Scientists are still arguing about when mammoths became extinct. At the excavations of the sites of an ancient man that belong to the Stone Age, drawings of these animals were found. In the Voronezh region, archaeologists have discovered mammoth bones. Of these, ancient man built his home. There is an assumption that they were also used as fuel.
In Siberia and Alaska, researchers found the bodies of mammoths, which survived thanks to permafrost. In Oleg Kuvaev’s book entitled “Territory”, you can even read the story of how one of the archaeologists knitted a sweater from the wool of an ancient animal. Scientists find the remains of mammoth bones in the most unexpected places. Teeth and bones are often found in the suburbs and even on the territory of the capital.
Appearance of animals
Mammoths were no larger than a modern elephant. However, their torso was more massive, and their limbs were shorter. The mammoth hair was long, and at the top of the jaw they had menacing tusks up to 4 meters long. In winter, using these tusks, like a bulldozer, animals raked snow. Some subspecies of mammoths reached an unprecedented weight - as much as 10.5 tons.
Inhabitants of Wrangel Island
There are many theories about when mammoths became extinct. One of them belongs to the candidate of geological sciences Sergey Vartanyan. In 1993, on the territory of Wrangel Island, he discovered the remains of the so-called dwarf mammoths. Their growth did not exceed 1.8 m. Researchers, using radiocarbon analysis, came to the conclusion that mammoths could live here 3.7 thousand years ago.
Prior to this discovery, scientists believed that the last mammoths could live in Taimyr about 10 thousand years ago. The scientist’s find showed that these animals lived on Wrangel Island simultaneously with the heyday of the Minoan culture on the territory of about. Crete, a Sumerian civilization, as well as the 11th Pharaonic Dynasty in Egypt.
Key Assumptions
Currently, there are two main hypotheses that explain why mammoths became extinct. According to the first, this was due to worsening climatic conditions. Proponents of another hypothesis believe that the main reason was human activity - hunting. In the era of the Upper Paleolithic people already settled throughout the Earth. It was at this time that these huge animals were exterminated.
The main hypothesis
Studies show that mammoths began to die out as a species for a long time - about 120 thousand years ago. The final disappearance occurred at the boundary between the two ice ages. Gradually, the population decreased from several million to tens of thousands. During the ice age, it was so cold on Earth that the grass that these animals fed on became a rarity. The meadows in the north gradually began to turn into forests and tundra. The result of the extinction of this species was just cooling due to the beginning of the ice age.
Epidemic hypothesis
The mammoth is an extinct animal, but because of what this species has disappeared from the face of the Earth, it is very difficult to say. There is another theory: American scientists Preston Max and Ross McPhee hypothesized that the cause could be an epidemic. The people who then shared the territory with mammoths were able to adapt and survive. And it was more difficult for animals to develop immunity due to their enormous size and slowness. When mammoths became infected, they went to the ponds and died there. Scientists have noticed that the largest number of burials of these animals is located just on the banks of rivers and lakes.
However, some finds by archaeologists do not support this hypothesis: scientists often find undigested food in the stomachs of animals, and the remains of grass in their mouths. Apparently, the moment when the mammoths became extinct, happened quite suddenly.
Space invasion
There is another suggestion as to why mammoths became extinct when. It is believed that they could be destroyed by a huge comet that collided with the Earth 13 thousand years ago. Because of this comet, the researchers say, people were forced to farm. Collision data was discovered by archaeologists in southern Turkey. The comet destroyed not only mammoths, but also other types of animals. It was because of this that people had to give up hunting and gathering and switch to agricultural labor.
Incest Disappearance
There is another theory according to which the last mammoths remaining on about. Wrangel died out due to imbreeding. This term refers to closely related crosses, resulting in various deformities and genetic anomalies. Thus, the extinction of these animals was due to a reduction in genetic diversity. On the territory of. Wrangel lived about 500-1000 individuals - at least, scientists give such estimates. And 500 individuals - this is the minimum amount that is necessary for the survival of any species of endangered animals.
The approximate time when mammoths became extinct, or rather the last of their representatives, was about 4 millennia ago. However, shortly before the death of this population, another small group of animals fought for survival in the modern territory of St. Paul’s Island. It is located between the coast of Alaska and the Far East.
Why did mammoths die out?
In the 3rd grade, students study this topic. Children need to clearly explain the reasons for the disappearance of these animals. Therefore, we can recommend that students and their parents use the main two hypotheses about the disappearance of these ancient animals. However, in addition to two assumptions that the mammoths were destroyed by hunters and that they could disappear from the face of the Earth due to worsening climatic conditions, other theories can be highlighted in homework. For example, extinction due to collision with a comet or due to inbreeding.
Arguments Against Hypotheses
Many archaeologists do not agree with the hypothesis of the disappearance of these animals due to hunting for them. For example, about 13 thousand years ago, an ancient man already mastered the entire space of Siberia. However, the time when the last mammoths died out on this territory is about 10 thousand years ago. Researchers note that hunting animals of this size was dangerous and inappropriate. In addition, the installation of traps in frozen ground probably took a lot of time and effort, especially when you consider that it was carried out using fairly primitive tools.
However, other animals disappeared from the planet at the time when the mammoths became extinct. The history of the world has data that in the same era the wild horses that lived in the vastness of America also disappeared. Researchers have a logical question: if mammoths became extinct, why did their contemporaries survive: bison, caribou, musk ox?
In addition, the wild horse, the tarpan, which was exterminated only in the second half of the 19th century, survived. Despite the abundance of hypotheses, it is believed that the theory of the impact of the ice age is still the most justified. A study by American scientist Dale Garty confirms the climate hypothesis. The scientist came to the conclusion about its reliability, having studied hundreds of remains of mammoths and people. Mammoths easily tolerated severe frost, but when it got warmer, the snow froze on their long hair, and this was a real disaster. The wool became an ice shell, which did not protect the animal from the cold.
Bone disease
Another assumption was made by scientists who conducted a study of the remains of animals found in the Kemerovo region. Archaeologists believe that mammoths here could disappear due to bone disease - a decrease in calcium levels occurred in local waters. Animals tried to find salt licks to make up for this shortcoming, but this did not help them escape. Weakened mammoths were watched by an ancient man. Each of the hypotheses has a right to exist - because if none of the assumptions can be proved, then they cannot be refuted.
Many prehistoric animals cause burning curiosity among our contemporaries. Take at least mammoths, whose images flicker on the pages of zoology textbooks and television screens. Were they the ancestors of the current representatives of the fauna world, and for what reason did their extinction occur? The answers to these questions concern many to this day. We will try to analyze the difference between a mammoth and an elephant.
Definitions
MammothMammoth- an extinct species of mammals belonging to the family of elephants and living in the Quaternary. They were distributed in modern Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Numerous bones of these animals were found in the sites of ancient people. In Alaska and Siberia, there have been cases of discovering the corpses of mammoths, preserved due to centuries of stay in the permafrost. Most representatives of the species became extinct about 10 thousand years ago during the Vislin ice age.
Elephant Elephant - A representative of the family of mammals of the proboscis order. It is the largest land animal. The life span of an elephant is equal to human and reaches an average of 70 years. This is the only representative of the fauna world who cannot jump. Surprisingly, such a large and clumsy animal is capable of developing impressive speed when running (about 30 km / h). In addition, elephants swim quite well. They can cover tens of kilometers of water. At the same time, animals do not need a prolonged sleep - four hours of rest per day is enough for them.
Comparison
To begin with, the average growth of a prehistoric animal was about 2 meters, and the weight reached 900 kg. These indicators are quite comparable with the parameters of modern elephants. However, there were subspecies of mammoths about 4-6 meters tall and weighing up to 12 tons. The body, head and trunk of the animal were covered with a dense coat of light brown or yellowish brown hue. Superbly developed sebaceous glands of a mammal increased the heat-insulating properties of its fur. The 8-10 cm subcutaneous fat layer also perfectly protected the beast from the cold. Huge curved tusks flaunted on the large, pointed head of the mammoth, the length of which sometimes reached 4 meters. It is believed that they were used not only for reasons of self-defense, but also in order to obtain food. With their help, the animals tore off the bark from the trees, dug up food under a thick layer of ice, etc.
Another difference between a mammoth and an elephant is the size of the ears. In extinct animals, they were small (about 30 cm in length) and tightly pressed to the head. Whereas the ears of an elephant are protruding to the side. Their average length is 180 cm. It is also worth noting that the trunk and tail of the mammoth were significantly shorter than that of an elephant. On the back of the prehistoric animal there was a hump in which fat reserves accumulated. The mammoth’s high teeth with a large number of thin dentin-enamel plates were adapted for chewing coarse plant food. The feet of the animals had a very thick (almost horn-like) sole, in diameter reaching 50 cm. The feet of their modern relatives are particularly sensitive. Thanks to the thick “pillows” located on them, they move almost silently.
A more complete answer to the question, what is the difference between a mammoth and an elephant, will help to find a comparative table.
| Mammoth | Elephant |
| Extinct animal | The modern representative of the world of fauna |
| The growth of some individuals reached 6 meters, and weight - up to 12 tons | The average height is about 2 meters, the weight reaches 1 ton |
| The body is covered with thick hair. | There is almost no hair on the skin |
| Pointed head, hump on the back | The head is more flattened, there is no hump |
| Huge curved tusks up to 4 m long | Tusks are several times shorter and less curved. |
| Small ears tightly pressed to the head | Large protruding ears |
| Short tail and trunk | The trunk reaches the ground, the tail is long enough |
| Thick, almost horn-like sole of the feet | Feet are particularly sensitive |
The 5th grade mammoth report briefly talks about the giant animals that inhabited our planet during the glaciation period. Also, a report on mammoths can be used while preparing for a lesson or writing an essay on a given topic.
Brief message about mammoths
Mammoths (or they were also called northern woolly elephants) is an extinct group of animals that lived on our planet for a long time, during the period of total cooling, about 1.6 million years ago.
The word "mammoth" of Tatar origin: the term "mother" means "earth". It is likely that this origin is due to the fact that since time immemorial, people have found the surviving bones of giants in the earth. For example, the ancient inhabitants of the North thought that mammoths lived underground like moles.
The appearance of mammoths
The main species of these giant animals rarely exceeded the size of modern elephants. Thus, the North American subspecies of mammoths reached a height of 5 m with a weight of 12 tons. And dwarf species of mammoths were no higher than 2 m with a weight of up to 900 kg. Unlike elephants, mammoths had a massive body, short legs, long curved tusks and long hair. In the tusks, animals obtained their food in winter, digging it out from under the thickness of snow. The molars had numerous, thin dentin-enamel plates that helped chew on coarse plant food.
Where did the mammoths live?
Mammoths lived in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Paleontological excavations by scientists have shown that animals led a nomadic lifestyle and constantly moved from one place to another, moving in the direction of glacier drift. In Europe, in severe snowy winters, mammoths wandered in the territory of the modern Crimean peninsula and the Mediterranean coast. They inhabited cold, sparsely snowed and dry steppes.
What did mammoths eat?
Since mammoths lived in the ice age, sparse vegetation represented their diet. When examining the animals found, the remains of larch and pine branches, leaves of wild caraway and sedge, spruce cones, flowers and moss were found in their stomach.
Why did mammoths die out?
Paleontologists believe that man became the cause of the disappearance of mammoths. They were the first creatures to be awarded such a sad fate. The body of the giants was covered with thick, long and warm hair, which most likely attracted an ancient man who was looking for a way to warm himself in the cold himself and warm his home. Also, people hunted them because of tasty, fatty and nutritious meat. Therefore, only primitive people saw the living mammoths, which caused the death of these animals.
- Modern naturalists were fortunate enough to study these animals thanks to paleontological excavations, during which they managed to find not only animal skeletons, but also whole frozen carcasses. So, in 1901, the so-called Berezovsky mammoth was discovered. His stuffed animal is kept in the Zoological Museum of St. Petersburg. His body is covered with wool, 35 cm long. Under it, scientists found a soft and warm undercoat, subcutaneous fat, which was located on the shoulders. In the mammoth's stomach there were remnants of undigested food.
- In 1977, at the mouth of the Siberian river Dima, a small mammoth was found, whose age is 44 thousand years.
- The mammoths had a hump on their backs, like camels, where they accumulated reserves of fat.
- Every day, the mammoth needed 180 kg of food to maintain health. An African elephant, for example, eats 300 kg of food.
- Giants had smaller ears than modern elephants. This is due to the cold climate.
- Mammoth, from 30,000 to 12,000 years ago, was the most popular object of Neolithic artists. He was depicted on the rocks in the caves of Western Europe. For example, rock paintings with mammoths can be seen in France in the Rufignac cave.
We hope that the report on mammoths helped to find out about the first living creatures, the cause of the disappearance of which was man. And you can leave a short story about mammoths through the comment form below.
