The Tragedy Hidden By Time, Or Why Mammoths Became Extinct

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Video: The Tragedy Hidden By Time, Or Why Mammoths Became Extinct

Video: The Tragedy Hidden By Time, Or Why Mammoths Became Extinct
Video: Why mammoths went extinct 2024, March
The Tragedy Hidden By Time, Or Why Mammoths Became Extinct
The Tragedy Hidden By Time, Or Why Mammoths Became Extinct
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Translated from the Finnish language, the word "mammoth" means "earthen mole". The name is associated with the legend of the supernatural beings Sikhirti. The ancient people of Sikhirti, who once went into the bowels of the earth and still live there, have underground deer that love to wander under the Moon on the surface of the Earth. But God forbid the underground deer to see the sun's rays - they will immediately be overtaken by inevitable death! Guess who we are talking about? It is in mammoths that legendary deer are recognized.

And there is some truth in this fantastic legend. The fact is that sometimes on the surface of the permafrost, whole corpses of mammoths, untouched by time, are found. Wool, skin, entrails - everything has been preserved in perfect condition. Often, unique finds could not be preserved. In a matter of days, huge carcasses were eaten by dogs, wolves and lemengs.

Mammoth- a large herd animal from the elephant family. The height of the body at the withers is 3-4 meters, weight is 5-6 tons. The reddish-brown hairline reached 1.2 meters. Skin up to 2 cm thick and long hair with a thick soft undercoat. The tusks of old individuals grew up to 4 meters and weighed more than 100 kg. The mammoth is a herbivore, eating up to half a tone of plant food a day. The life span of a mammoth is 70-80 years. The fertility of this mammal was very low; sexual maturity was reached by the age of 11-15 years. The habitat of mammoths and mammoth fauna (bison, woolly rhinoceros, musk ox, etc.) was extremely extensive. Bone remains of these representatives of ancient animals are found almost throughout the northern hemisphere of the Earth. Finds that are especially frequent and in good condition are characteristic of Eastern Siberia. This is due to the cold climatic conditions and such a natural phenomenon of these places as permafrost (which bound the bowels of the earth for hundreds of meters). So, the first point of view

Gradual cooling

Africa is considered the ancestral home of mammoths. Researchers have established that the ancestors of the mammoth and its accompanying fauna appeared in the north more than a million years ago and existed throughout the entire Ice Age. At its beginning, the climate was moderately cold, and permafrost was forming. Then, throughout the entire period, a gradual cooling occurs, interrupted by short periods of interglacial warming. About 20 thousand years ago, during the next glaciation, a very cold, sharply continental climate was established, tundra-steppes with abundant herbal vegetation developed. Mammoths and mammoth fauna adapt well to such extreme natural conditions, reaching their greatest development of modern mammals during this period.

Result: Gradual cooling, prolonged formation of a cold climate. In this process of cooling, mammoths, like other animals, gradually adapt to new cold living conditions.

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