Geek out time again. This time: Woolly Mammoths

Woolly Mammoths are a large, extinct animal that resembles an elephant with long, sparse hair.

There are many unsolved problems around mammoths found frozen in Arctic ice.

Read on for random tidbits, with links if you wish to dive deeper. Including what mammoth tastes like.



There are many mammoths found frozen in Arctic ice. See map below:


There is no clear answer to why they are found in the ice. There are a number of theories, but none fit perfectly. I tend to favor the theory that Noah's flood combined with sudden global climate change was the cause. Regardless of the cause, there are the clues:

Whatever it was, it was probably sudden:
"But whatever happened, happened faster than that. In 1900 a frozen mammoth was found in the Berezovka River. The unusual part was that there was half-chewed food in the animal's mouth. The animal did not have time to swallow before being overcome. The animal was found in upright position."

Frozen mamoths have been found standing up. The animals apparently didn't have time to fall over. Many animals in museums are mounted as they were found- standing or sitting up.
Answers In Genesis, Notes 25-28

Steak
Some mammoth meat is edible
The further north, the more likely it is to be well preserved. (Any animal that thaws will rot quickly, hence the need for constant Arctic ice.) The few reports scatted about all point to very, very, bad freezer burned meat with very bad taste. A few reports tell of mammoth meat being fed to sled dogs, with no ill effects.


Cause of Death
Some are so well preserved, that a cause of death can be identified: Suffocation!
Answers In Genesis, Notes 29-32


What did mammoths eat? What does this tell us about their global climate?
"Many people on this I guess are aware that undigested buttercups have been found in the stomachs of the mammoths. Lets consider the buttercups first. They grow in a warmer climate than Siberia. We have also found in their stomachs undigested grasses that are known to grow ONLY in more moderate climates."

Of course a problem develops. To freeze a mammoth so fast that it does not rot and instead its stomach contents still remain undigested requires a VERY fast freeze. How could it have happened?

Food found inside the animals do not now grow where they are found- the climate has radically changed. The earth was much, much warmer at the time the mammoths bit into their last meal.

The size of the mammoths are simmilar to modern elephants. Elephants are well known to spend most of their day eating, and can only live in areas with large areas of food-growing land. Hostile, colder environments simply cannot grow enough food for mammals much larger than a dear.

Comparing living elephants to mammoths, the daily requirement for a woolly mammoth would have been about 200 to 300 kg of succulent vegetation and 130–190 litres of water. Neither mammoth nor bison could exist in the sort of tundra that exists in Siberia today.

As a side note, one source I found stated that the flowers found inside mommoth mouths were fall blooming flowers. I have not been able to confirm this - but if true, it's another data point for the sudden event theory, as well as shedding light into the time of year of that event.

ice
More than just mammoths were frozen
Other animals are found frozen too - thus this was an area-wide event, not a single animal event.

Again, from the Answers In Genesis site:
Woolly mammoths are not the only fossil mammals found in the permafrost of Beringia. There are a wide range of other mammals, large and small, that accompany the mammoths. These include the woolly rhinoceros, wolf, fox, lion, brown bear, camel, deer, ground sloth, pika, wolverine, ferret, ground squirrel, moose, reindeer, yak, musk ox, giant beaver, lemming, porcupine, coyote, skunk, mastodon, antelope, sheep, voles, hare and rabbit, plus many species of birds, rodents, horses, and bisons. Frozen carcasses of these animals, especially the woolly rhinoceros, are also found. Generally, the same animals are found together throughout much of the mid and high latitudes of the Northern Hemi­sphere.


Much of the ivory on the market today isn't elephant - it's mammoth!
Environmental groups have put pressure on the global sale of elephant ivory- so much so that it's cheaper for scavengers to find mamoth ivory scattered in the artic and then resell it as ivory.


Your turn - go, dig, explore.