Abstract on the topic:
Plan:
- Introduction
- 1 Phenotype
- 2 Extinction
- 3 Skeleton
- 4 History of the study
- 5 Legends of the Ob Ugrians, Nenets, Komi about mammoths
- 6 American Indian legends about mammoths
- 7 origin of name
- 8 Mammoth bone
- 9 Exhibits in museums
- 10 Interesting Facts
- 11 Mammoths in heraldry Notes
Introduction
Mammoths(lat. Mammuthus) is an extinct genus of mammals from the elephant family that lived in the Quaternary period. Some individuals reached a height of 5.5 meters and a weight of 10-12 tons. Thus, 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 sites ancient man Stone Age; Drawings and sculptures of mammoths made by prehistoric man were also discovered. In Siberia and Alaska, there are known cases of the discovery of mammoth corpses that were preserved due to their presence in the thickness of permafrost. The main types of mammoths were no larger in size than modern elephants (while the North American subspecies Mammuthus emperor 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 weighed 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 obtaining food in winter time from under the snow. Mammoth molars with numerous thin dentin-enamel plates were well adapted for chewing coarse plant food.
Baby mammoth Dima extracted from permafrost
2. Extinction
Mammoths went extinct about 10 thousand years ago during the last Ice Age. According to many scientists, significant or even decisive role Upper Paleolithic hunters played a role in this extinction. According to another point of view, the extinction process began before the appearance of people in the corresponding territories.
In 1993, the journal Nature published information about a stunning discovery made on Wrangel Island. Reserve employee Sergei Vartanyan discovered the remains of mammoths on the island, the age of which was determined to be from 7 to 3.5 thousand years. It was subsequently discovered that these remains belonged 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 the Mycenaean civilization.
One of the latest, most massive and southernmost burials of mammoths is located in the Kargatsky district of the Novosibirsk region, in the upper reaches of the Bagan River in the Volchya Griva area. It is believed that there are at least 1,500 mammoth skeletons here. Some of the bones bear traces of human processing, which allows us to build various hypotheses about the residence of ancient people in Siberia.
Mammoth skeleton
3. Skeleton
In terms of its skeletal structure, the mammoth bears a significant resemblance to the living Indian elephant, which it was somewhat larger in size, reaching 5.5 m in length and 3.1 m in height. Huge mammoth tusks, up to 4 m in length, weighing up to 100 kg, were located in the upper jaw, protruded forward, curved upward and diverged to the sides.
The molars, of which mammoths had one in each half of the jaw, are somewhat wider than those of an elephant, and are distinguished by a greater number and hardness of lamellar enamel boxes filled with dental substance. It is interesting that as the mammoth’s teeth wore out (like those of modern elephants) they were replaced with new ones; such a change could take place up to 6 times during its life: 17.
4. History of the study
Map of finds of mammoth bones in North-Eastern Siberia
Bones and especially molar teeth of mammoths were found quite often in sediments ice age Europe and Siberia and were known for a long time and, due to their enormous size, with general medieval ignorance and superstition, were attributed to extinct giants. In Valencia, a mammoth molar was revered as part of the relics of St. Christopher, and back in 1789 the canons of St. Vincent carried the femur of a mammoth in his processions, passing it off as the remnant of the hand of the named saint. It was possible to get acquainted with the anatomy of the mammoth in more detail after the Tungus 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 wool. 7 years later, in 1806, Adams, sent by the Academy of Sciences, managed to collect an almost complete skeleton of the animal, with some ligaments, part of the skin, some entrails, an eye and up to 30 pounds of hair surviving; everything else was destroyed by wolves, bears and dogs. In Siberia, mammoth tusks, washed away by spring waters and collected by the natives, were the subject of significant trade, replacing ivory in turning products.
5. Legends of the Ob Ugrians, Nenets, Komi about mammoths
The Komi, like other peoples of the North, often found mammoth bones in sediments on river banks and cut bone tubes, handles, etc. from them. Komi myths tell of entire sledges made from mammoth bone. The “earth deer”, in the ideas of the Komi (as well as the Nenets, Khanty and Mansey), lived in the initial times of creation. He was so heavy that he sank into the ground up to his chest. Its paths created the beds of rivers and streams and, in the end, the water flooded the entire earth (the Komi, familiar with the biblical flood, say that the mammoth wanted to escape in Noah's Ark, but couldn’t fit there). The mammoth swam through the waters, but birds sat on its “horns” and the beast drowned. Sysol Komi miners talked about mu kule- an underground devil, from which giant fossils remain underground.
6. American Indian legends about mammoths
Mammuthus
Mammuthus
According to Thomas Jefferson, the Indians called the mammoth (the remains of which were often found in America) “the great buffalo.” According to Delaware legend, herds of these animals once came to Big Bone Licks and began to exterminate all other animals “created for the benefit of the Indians,” until finally Big Man At the top, indignant, he did not kill all the “big bison” with lightning. Only one bull survived, which, having repelled all the blows and being wounded in the side, “with huge leaps jumped over Ohio, Wabash, Illinois and finally across the Great Lakes, to the places where it lives to this day” (that is, it went far to the North) . Next, Jefferson cites the story of a certain Stanley, who, while captive of the Indians, saw a mammoth cemetery: “the natives told him that the animal to whose breed these bones belonged was still found in the northern parts of their lands. Based on their description, he decided that it was an elephant." These details make us suspect that the Indians retained a vague memory of mammoths and their retreat to the north, dating back to Paleolithic times.
7. Origin of the name
Russian word mammoth presumably comes from Mansi mang ont- “earth horn” (there are other etymologies) and is close to Christian name Mamant, other Russian Mammoth (commemorated on September 2, Old Art.) which in Greek means “maternal”, “sucking the mother’s breast”, from the late μαμμα (mamma) - “mother”. From the Russian language the word came into many European languages, in particular into English (in the form of English. Mammoth).
8. Mammoth bone
Carved mammoth ivory box
Mammoth on a Russian coin (1992)
Mammoth ivory is stronger than ivory and has a unique color scheme. Over thousands of years spent underground, the tusks underwent gradual mineralization and acquired a wide variety of shades - from milky white and pinkish to blue-violet. Master bone carvers highly value the natural darkening of the material. Thanks to its unique color, mammoth ivory has long been used to create expensive boxes, snuff boxes, figurines, chess sets, magnificent combs, bracelets and women's jewelry. They also inlay 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 skeleton of a mammoth can be seen:
- in Moscow - in the Paleontological Museum. Yu. A. Orlova
- in Moscow - at the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
- in Moscow - at the Museum-Theater “Our Ice Age”
- in St. Petersburg - in the Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- in Penza - in the local history museum
- in Azov - in the local history museum
- in Yakutsk - in the Mammoth Museum of the Academy of Sciences of the Sakha Republic
- in Novosibirsk - in the local history museum, as well as in the foyer of the Institute of Archeology SB RAS
- in Yekaterinburg - in the local history museum
- in Nizhny Tagil - in the Museum of Nature and Environmental Protection (skeletons of a mammoth and a baby mammoth).
- in Tobolsk - in the Tobolsk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve
- in Tomsk - in the paleontological museum of TSU
- in Omsk - in the local history museum
- in Bryansk - in the local history museum
- in Khanty-Mansiysk - at the Museum of Nature and Man. One of the most complete skeletons of the ancestor of the woolly mammoth, the trogontherian elephant, is also exhibited here.
- in Paris - in the Paleontological Museum of the Paris Museum of Natural History
- in Krasnoyarsk - in the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore
- in Tyumen - in the local history museum
- in Stavropol - in the Local History Museum, the skeleton of the Southern Elephant (Discovered in the Kosyansky quarry (Stavropol Territory)).
- in Lugansk - in the local history museum
- in Kharkov - in the Museum of Nature of KhNU named after. Karazin
- in Donetsk - in the local history museum
- in the excursion cave Emine-Bair-Khosar (Crimea, Mount Chatyr-Dag) - baby mammoth Kolya
- in Perm - in the regional museum
- in Kazan - in the Stukenberg Geological Museum of Kazan Federal University
- in Poltava - in the local history museum
- in Khatanga - at the Mammoth Museum
10. Interesting facts
- Currently, the Pleistocene Park Project (and many others) is exploring the possibility of restoring the mammoth using genetic material preserved in the frozen carcasses of the animal. But so far success has not been achieved.
- In the village of Kuleshovka, Sumy region, in Ukraine, there is a monument to a mammoth, erected in 1841.
- On the banks of the Ob River at the ferry crossing of the city of Salekhard, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug there is a monument to a mammoth in full height
- Genetically, continental mammoths are divided into 3 groups:
11. Mammoths in heraldry
The image of a mammoth can be seen on the coats of arms of cities.
A message about mammoths, grade 5, will briefly tell you 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) are an extinct group of animals that lived on our planet a very long time ago, during a period of total cooling, about 1.6 million years ago.
The word "mammoth" is of Tatar origin: the term "mamma" means "earth". It is likely that this origin is due to the fact that since time immemorial people have found surviving bones of giants in the ground. For example, the ancient inhabitants of the North thought that mammoths lived underground like moles.
Appearance of mammoths
The main species of these giant animals rarely exceeded modern elephants in size. 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 and weighed up to 900 kg. Unlike elephants, mammoths had a massive body, short legs, long curved tusks and long hair. Animals used their tusks to obtain food for themselves in winter, picking it out from under the thick snow. The molars had numerous, thin dentin-enamel plates that helped chew rough plant food.
Where did mammoths live?
Mammoths lived in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Paleontological excavations by scientists have shown that the animals led a nomadic lifestyle and constantly moved from one place to another, moving in the direction of glacial drift. In Europe, in harsh snowy winters, mammoths roamed the territory of the modern Crimean peninsula and coast Mediterranean Sea. They inhabited cold, little snow-covered and dry steppes.
What did mammoths eat?
Since mammoths lived during the Ice Age, their diet consisted of scanty vegetation. When examining the found animals, remains of larch and pine twigs, wild caraway and sedge leaves were found in their stomachs. fir cones, flowers and moss.
Why did mammoths become extinct?
Paleontologists believe that humans caused the disappearance of mammoths. They were the first creatures to suffer such a sad fate. The giants' body was covered with thick, long and warm hair, which most likely attracted ancient man, who was looking for a way to warm himself in the cold and insulate his home. People also hunted them for their tasty, fatty and nutritious meat. Therefore, living mammoths were only seen primitive people, which caused the death of these animals.
- Modern naturalists were lucky enough to study these animals thanks to paleontological excavations, during which it was possible to find not only animal skeletons, but also entire frozen carcasses. Thus, in 1901, the so-called Berezovsky mammoth was discovered. His stuffed animal is kept in the Zoological Museum of St. Petersburg. Its body is covered with fur, 35 cm long. Underneath it, scientists discovered a soft and warm undercoat, subcutaneous fat, which was located on the shoulders. There were remains of undigested food in the mammoth's stomach.
- In 1977, at the mouth of the Siberian Dima River, a small mammoth was found, whose age is 44 thousand years.
- Mammoths had a hump on their back, like camels, where they stored fat reserves.
- Every day the mammoth needed 180 kg of food to maintain health. An African elephant, for example, eats 300 kg of food.
- The giants' ears were smaller than those of modern elephants. This is due to the cold climate.
- The mammoth, from 30,000 to 12,000 years ago, was the most popular subject of Neolithic artists. He was depicted on rocks in caves Western Europe. For example, cave paintings with mammoths can be seen in France in the Roufignac cave.
We hope that the report on mammoths helped to learn about the first living creatures whose extinction was caused by man. A short story You can leave information about mammoths using the comment form below.
The mammoth is a mystery that has aroused the curiosity of researchers for more than two hundred years. What were they like, how did they live and why did they die out? All these questions still do not have exact answers. Some scientists blame them mass death famine, the second - the ice age, the third - ancient hunters who destroyed herds for meat, skins and tusks. Official version No.
Who are mammoths
The ancient mammoth was a mammal belonging to the elephant family. The main species had sizes comparable to those of their close relatives - elephants. Their weight often did not exceed 900 kg, and their height did not exceed 2 meters. However, there were more “representative” varieties, whose weight reached 13 tons and height - 6 meters.
Mammoths differed from elephants in having a more bulky body, short legs and long hair. Characteristic sign- large curved tusks that were used by prehistoric animals to dig out food from under snow debris. They also had molars with a large number of thin dentino-enamel plates, which were used for processing fibrous roughage.
Appearance
Skeletal structure possessed ancient mammoth, is in many ways reminiscent of the structure of the Indian elephant living today. Of greatest interest are the giant tusks, the length of which could reach up to 4 meters and weight up to 100 kg. They were located in the upper jaw, grew forward and bent upward, “spreading” to the sides.
The tail and ears, pressed tightly to the skull, were different small in size, there was straight black bangs on the head, and a hump stood out on the back. The large body with a slightly lowered rear was based on stable legs-pillars. The legs had an almost horn-like (very thick) sole, reaching a diameter of 50 cm.
The coat had a light brown or yellowish-brown tint, the tail, legs and withers were decorated with noticeable black spots. The fur “skirt” fell from the sides, almost reaching the ground. The “clothes” of prehistoric animals were very warm.
Tusk
A mammoth is an animal whose tusk was unique not only for its increased strength, but also for its unique range of colors. The bones lay underground for several thousand years and underwent mineralization. Their shades have acquired a wide range - from purple to snow-white. Darkening, which occurs as a result of the work of nature, increases the value of the tusk.
The tusks of prehistoric animals were not as perfect as the tools of elephants. They were easily worn down and developed cracks. It is believed that mammoths used them to obtain food for themselves - branches, tree bark. Sometimes animals formed 4 tusks, the second pair was thin and often fused with the main one.
Unique colors make mammoth tusks popular in the production of luxury boxes, snuff boxes, and chess sets. They are used to create gift figurines, ladies' jewelry, and expensive weapons. Artificial reproduction of special colors is not possible, which explains the high cost of products created from mammoth tusks. Real ones, of course, not fake ones.
Everyday life of mammoths
60 years - average duration the lives of giants who lived on earth several thousand years ago. Mammoth - its food was mainly herbaceous plants, tree shoots, small shrubs, and moss. The daily norm is about 250 kg of vegetation, which forced the animals to spend about 18 hours daily on feeding and constantly change their location in search of fresh pastures.
Researchers are convinced that mammoths practiced a herd lifestyle and gathered in small groups. The standard group consisted of 9-10 adult representatives of the species, and cubs were also present. As a rule, the role of leader of the herd was assigned to the oldest female.
By the age of 10, the animals reached sexual maturity. At this time, matured males left the maternal herd, moving to a solitary existence.
Habitat
Modern research has established that mammoths, which appeared on earth approximately 4.8 million years ago, disappeared only about 4 thousand years ago, and not 9-10, as previously thought. These animals lived on the lands of North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Bones of mighty animals, drawings and sculptures depicting them are often discovered at the sites of ancient inhabitants
Mammoths in Russia were also common in large quantities, Siberia is especially famous for its interesting finds. A huge “cemetery” of these animals was discovered in Khanty-Mansiysk, even a monument was erected in their honor. By the way, it was in the lower reaches of the Lena that the remains of a mammoth were first (officially) found.
Mammoths, or rather their remains, are still being discovered in Russia.
Causes of extinction
Until now, the history of mammoths has large gaps. In particular, this concerns the reasons for their extinction. A wide variety of versions have been put forward. The original hypothesis was proposed by Jean Baptiste Lamarck. According to the scientist, absolute extinction biological species is not possible, he only turns into another. However, official descendants of mammoths have not yet been identified.
I disagree with my colleague, blaming the death of mammoths on a flood (or other global disasters that took place during the period of extinction of the population). He argues that the Earth has often experienced short-term catastrophes that completely exterminated a particular species.
Brocchi, a paleontologist originally from Italy, believes that every living creature on the planet has a certain period of existence. The scientist compares the disappearance of entire species with the aging and death of an organism, which is why, in his opinion, the mysterious history of mammoths has ended.
The most popular theory, which has many adherents in the scientific community, is climate theory. About 15-10 thousand years ago due to northern zone The tundra-steppe became a swamp, the southern one was filled with coniferous forests. The grasses that previously formed the basis of the animals’ diet were replaced by moss and branches, which, according to scientists, led to their extinction.
Ancient hunters
How the first people hunted mammoths has not yet been established exactly. It was the hunters of those times who are often accused of exterminating large animals. This version is supported by products made from tusks and skins, which are constantly discovered in the sites of the inhabitants of ancient times.
However, modern research makes this assumption increasingly questionable. According to a number of scientists, people only finished off weak and sick representatives of the species, without hunting healthy ones. Bogdanov, the creator of the work “Secrets of the Lost Civilization,” gives reasonable arguments in favor of the impossibility of hunting mammoths. He believes that the weapons that the residents possessed ancient earth, it is simply impossible to pierce the skin of these animals.
Another compelling argument is the stringy, tough meat, almost unsuitable for food.
Close relatives
Elefas primigenius is the name of mammoths in Latin. The name indicates their close relationship with elephants, since the translation sounds like “first-born elephant.” There are even hypotheses that the mammoth is the progenitor of modern elephants, which were the result of evolution, adaptation to a warm climate.
A study by German scientists who compared the DNA of mammoth and elephant suggests that the Indian elephant and mammoth are two branches, the genealogy of which is traced back to African elephant for about 6 million years now. The ancestor of this animal, as modern discoveries have shown, lived on Earth approximately 7 million years ago, which makes the version valid.
Known specimens
“The Last Mammoth” is a title that can be assigned to baby Dimka, a six-month-old mammoth whose remains were found by workers in 1977 near Magadan. About 40 thousand years ago, this baby fell through the ice, which caused his mummification. This is by far the best preserved specimen yet discovered by mankind. Dimka has become a source of valuable information for those researching the extinct species.
Equally famous is the Adams mammoth, which became the first full-fledged skeleton to be shown to the public. This happened back in 1808, since then the copy has been located in the Museum of the Academy of Sciences. The find belonged to the hunter Osip Shumakhov, who lived by collecting mammoth bones.
The Berezovsky mammoth has a similar story; it was also found by a tusk hunter on the banks of one of the rivers in Siberia. The conditions for excavating the remains could not be called favorable; the extraction was carried out in parts. The preserved mammoth bones became the basis for a giant skeleton, soft fabrics- object of research. Death overtook the animal at the age of 55.
Matilda, a female of a prehistoric species, was discovered by schoolchildren. An event happened in 1939, the remains were discovered on the banks of the Oesh River.
Revival is possible
Modern researchers never cease to be interested in such a prehistoric animal as the mammoth. The significance of prehistoric finds for science is nothing other than the motivation underlying all attempts to resurrect it. So far, attempts to clone the extinct species have not yielded tangible results. This is due to the lack of material of the required quality. However, research in this area is not going to stop. Currently, scientists are relying on the remains of a female found not so long ago. The specimen is valuable because it has preserved liquid blood.
Despite the failure of cloning, it has been proven that the appearance of the ancient inhabitant of the Earth has been restored exactly, as well as his habits. Mammoths look exactly as they are presented on the pages of textbooks. The most interesting discovery is that the closer the period of residence of a discovered biological species to our time, the more fragile its skeleton is.
Unraveling the fate of woolly mammoths can shed light on what happened on our planet many tens and hundreds of years ago. Modern paleontologists are studying the remains of these giants in order to find out more precisely what they looked like, what kind of lifestyle they led, who is related to modern elephants, and why they became extinct. The results of the researchers' work will be discussed below.
Mammoths are large herd animals belonging to the elephant family. Representatives of one of their varieties, called the woolly mammoth (mammuthus primigenius), inhabited the northern regions of Europe, Asia and North America, presumably between 300 and 10 thousand years ago. When favorable climatic conditions they did not leave the territories of Canada and Siberia, but in harsh times crossed the borders of modern China and the United States, ending up in Central Europe and even Spain and Mexico. During that era, Siberia was also inhabited by many other unusual animals, which paleontologists grouped into a category called the “mammoth fauna.” In addition to the mammoth, it includes animals such as the woolly rhinoceros, primitive bison, horse, aurochs, etc.
Many people mistakenly believe that woolly mammoths are the ancestors of modern elephants. In fact, both species simply share a common ancestor, and therefore a close relationship.
What did the animal look like?
According to the description at the end XVIII century According to the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, the woolly mammoth is a gigantic animal, the height of which at the withers reached about 3.5 meters with an average weight of 5.5 tons, and a maximum weight of up to 8 tons! The length of the coat, consisting of coarse hair and thick soft undercoat, reached more than a meter. The thickness of the mammoth skin was almost 2 cm. The 10-centimeter layer subcutaneous fat Together with wool, they served the giants as reliable protection from the cold. The summer coat was somewhat shorter and not as thick as the winter coat. Most likely, it was black or dark brown in color. Scientists explain the brown color of the specimens found in the ice by the fading of the fur.
According to another version, a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and the presence of wool are evidence that mammoths constantly lived in a warm climate with an abundance of food. Otherwise, how could they gain such significant fat deposits? Scientists who adhere to this opinion cite two types of modern animals as examples: fairly well-fed tropical rhinoceroses and slender reindeer. The presence of wool in a mammoth should also not be considered evidence of a harsh climate, because the Malaysian elephant also has hairline and at the same time feels great, living on the equator itself.
Many thousands of years ago high temperatures in the Far North were provided with the help greenhouse effect, which was caused by the presence of a steam-water dome, due to which abundant vegetation was present in the Arctic. This is confirmed by the many remains of not only mammoths, but also other heat-loving animals. Thus, skeletons of camels, lions and dinosaurs were found in Alaska. And in areas where there are no trees at all these days, thick and rather tall trunks have been found along with the skeletons of mammoths and horses.
Let's return to the description of mammuthus primigenius. The length of the tusks of older individuals reached 4 meters, and the mass of these bony processes twisted upward was more than a hundredweight. The average length of the tusks varied between 2.5 - 3 m with a weight of 40 - 60 kg.
Mammoths also differed from modern elephants in having smaller ears and a trunk, the presence of a special growth on the skull, and a high hump on the back. In addition, the spine of their woolly relative curved sharply downward at the rear.
The most recent woolly mammoths living on Wrangel Island were significantly smaller in size than their ancestors; their height at the withers was slightly less than 2 meters. But despite this, during the Ice Age this animal was largest representative fauna throughout Eurasia.
Lifestyle
The basis of the mammoth diet was plant food, the average daily volume of which included almost 500 kg of various greens: grass, leaves, young tree branches and pine needles. This is confirmed by studies of the stomach contents of mammuthus primigenius and indicates that giant animals chose to live in areas where both tundra and steppe flora were present.
The giants lived up to 70–80 years. They became sexually mature at 12–14 years of age. The most viable hypothesis suggests that the lifestyle of these animals was the same as that of elephants. That is, mammoths lived in a group of 2–9 individuals, headed by the eldest female. Males led a solitary lifestyle and joined groups only during the rutting period.
Artifacts
Bones of mammuthus primigenius are found in almost all regions of the northern hemisphere of our planet, but the most generous region for such “gifts from the past” is Eastern Siberia. During the life of the giants, the climate in this region was not harsh, but soft and temperate.
Thus, in 1799, on the banks of the Lena, the remains of a woolly mammoth were first found, which was named “Lensky”. A century later, this skeleton became the most valuable exhibit of the new St. Petersburg Zoological Museum.
Later on the territory of Russia the following mammoths were found: in 1901 - “Berezovsky” (Yakutia); in 1939 – “Oeshsky” (Novosibirsk region); in 1949 – “Taimyrsky” (Taimyr Peninsula); in 1977 - (Magadan); in 1988 – (Yamal Peninsula); in 2007 – (Yamal Peninsula); in 2009 - baby mammoth Khrom (Yakutia); 2010 – (Yakutia).
The most valuable finds include the “Berezovsky mammoth” and the baby mammoth Khroma - individuals completely frozen in a block of ice. According to paleontologists, they remained captive in ice for more than 30 thousand years. Scientists managed to obtain not only perfect samples different tissues, but also to get acquainted with food from the stomach of animals that has not had time to be digested.
The richest place for mammoth remains is the New Siberian Islands. According to the descriptions of the researchers who discovered them, these territories consist almost entirely of tusks and bones.
Thanks to the collected material, in 2008, researchers from Canada managed to decipher 70% of the woolly mammoth genome, and 8 years later their Russian colleagues completed this ambitious work. Over many years of painstaking work, they were able to assemble about 3.5 billion particles into a single sequence. In this they were helped by the genetic material of the above-mentioned mammoth Chroma.
Reasons for the extinction of mammoths
Scientists around the world have been arguing for two centuries regarding the reasons for the disappearance of woolly mammoths from our planet. During this time, many hypotheses have been put forward, the most viable of which is considered to be a sharp cooling caused by the destruction of the steam-water dome.
This could happen for various reasons, for example, due to an asteroid falling to Earth. During its fall, the celestial body split the once united continent, which is why water vapor above the planet’s atmosphere first condensed and then poured out in heavy rain (about 12 m of precipitation). This provoked intense movement of powerful mud flows, which along their path carried away animals and formed stratigraphic layers. With the disappearance of the greenhouse dome, the Arctic was covered with ice and snow. As a result of this, all representatives of the fauna were instantly buried in permafrost. This is why some woolly mammoths are found “fresh frozen” with clovers, buttercups, wild legumes and gladioli in their mouths or stomachs. Neither the listed plants, nor even their distant relatives now grow in Siberia. Because of this, paleontologists insist on the version that mammoths were killed at lightning speed due to a climate disaster.
This assumption interested paleoclimatologists and they, taking the drilling results as a basis, came to the conclusion that in the period from 130 to 70 thousand years ago, a fairly mild climate reigned in the northern territories located between 55 and 70 degrees. It can be compared to the modern climate of northern Spain.
July 17, 2017
It is impossible to fully imagine the atmosphere of the last ice age without a woolly mammoth or two stomping across the frozen tundra. But how much do you know about these legendary animals? Below are 10 surprising and interesting facts about mammoths that you might not know.
1. Mammoth tusks reached 4 m in length
In addition to their long, shaggy coats, mammoths are known for their huge tusks, which in large males reached 4 m in length. Such large tusks most likely marked sexual attractiveness: males with longer, curved, and impressive tusks were able to mate with more females during the breeding season. Also, the tusks may have been used defensively to ward off hungry saber-tooth tigers, although there is no direct fossil evidence to support this theory.
2. Mammoths were the favorite prey of primitive people
The gigantic 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 essential source of food. It has been suggested that the patience, planning and cooperation required to capture mammoths was a key factor in the development of human civilization!
3. Mammoths were immortalized in cave paintings
From 30,000 to 12,000 years ago, the mammoth was one of the most popular subjects of Neolithic artists, who depicted images of this shaggy beast on the walls of numerous caves in Western Europe. Perhaps the primitive paintings were intended as totems (i.e. early people believed that the image of a mammoth in rock paintings made it easier to capture it in real life). Also, the drawings could serve as objects of cult, or talented primitive artists were simply bored on a cold, rainy day! :)
4. Mammoths weren’t the only “woolly” mammals back then.
Any warm-blooded animal, to a certain extent, needs fur to retain body heat. One of the mammoth's shaggy cousins was the lesser-known woolly rhinoceros, which roamed the plains of Eurasia during the Pleistocene era. Woolly rhinoceroses, like mammoths, often became the prey of primitive hunters, who may have considered them easier prey.
5. The genus of mammoths included many species
The widely known woolly mammoth was actually one of several species included in the genus mammoth. A dozen other species lived in North America and Eurasia throughout the Pleistocene era, including the steppe mammoth, Columbus mammoth, dwarf mammoth and others. However, none of these species were as widespread as the woolly mammoth.
6. Sungari mammoth (Mammuthus sungari) was the largest of all species
Some individuals of the Sungari mammoth (Mammuthus sungari), living in Northern China, reached a mass of about 13 tons (compared to such giants, 5-7 tons, the woolly mammoth seemed short). In the Western Hemisphere, the palm belonged to the imperial mammoth (Mammuthus imperator), males of this species weighed more than 10 tons.
7. Mammoths had an impressive layer of fat under their skin.
Even the thickest skin and thick woolen coat cannot fully provide sufficient protection during severe arctic storms. For this reason, mammoths had a 10-centimeter layer of fat under their skin, which served as additional insulation and kept their bodies warm in the harshest climatic conditions.
By the way, as far as we can judge from the preserved remains, the color of mammoth fur varied from light to dark brown, just like human hair.
8. The last mammoths went extinct about 4,000 years ago
By the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, mammoth populations around the world had virtually disappeared 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. Due to the limited food supply, mammoths from Wrangel Island were much smaller than their counterparts from the mainland, for which they were often called dwarf elephants.
9. Many mammoth bodies were preserved in permafrost
Even today, 10,000 years after the last ice age, the northern regions of Canada, Alaska and Siberia maintain a very cold climate, keeping numerous mammoth bodies virtually intact. Identifying and extracting giant corpses from blocks of ice is a fairly simple task; keeping the remains at room temperature is much more difficult.
10. Scientists are able to clone a mammoth
Since mammoths became extinct relatively recently and modern elephants are their closest relatives, scientists are able to collect mammoth DNA and incubate it in a female elephant (a process known as "de-extinction"). Researchers recently announced that they have almost completely sequenced the genomes of two 40,000-year-old samples. Unfortunately or fortunately, the same trick won't work with dinosaurs, since DNA doesn't preserve that well over tens of millions of years.