Page 8 - Woolly Mammoth
P. 8
fossil finds animal gallery
WE CAN GET A GOOD IDEA OF WHAT ANCIENT ANIMALS MAY HAVE LOOKED All of these animals appear in the story.
LIKE FROM THEIR FOSSILS. FOSSILS ARE FORMED WHEN THE HARD PARTS OF AN
ANIMAL OR PLANT BECOME BURIED AND THEN TURN TO ROCK OVER
MILLIONS OF YEARS.
oolly mammoth fossils ome mammoths have
Whave been found from North Sbeen found deep frozen in mountain hare golden eagle
Lepus timidus Aquila chrysaetos
America to China and even under permafrost with mummified flesh, Length: 26 inches (66 cm) Wingspan: 7.8 ft (2.4 m)
the North Sea (which was dry land skin, fur, and even the contents of A typical hare adapted to harsh polar and A majestic bird of prey with massive talons. It is
tundra habitats. Still living. the most widespread modern-day eagle.
during the coldest ice ages). their stomachs.
Mammoth remains were sought by
“Dima” is a
ancient people long before today’s seven-month-
old frozen
paleontologists. The
mammoth who
fossilized ivory “tusks” was found in Siberia.
were valued
by them.
scimitar cat Neanderthal
Homotherium Homo neanderthalensis
Length: 5.5 ft (1.7 m) Height: up to 5.5 ft (1.7 m)
A lion-sized cat that ran and hunted like a A type of early human that made fire, stone
uring the last two ice ages, cheetah and had two extra-large canine teeth. tools, and hunted. They became extinct
about 40,000 years ago.
Dwoolly mammoths co-existed
with Neanderthals and Cro-
Magnon humans. We know this
from finding bones that show cuts,
or butchering marks, at human
sites. Early humans also depicted
mammoths in cave art and on
woolly rhinoceros musk ox cave lion
small stone carvings. In Siberia “Oscar” is Coelodonta antiquitatis Ovibos moschatus Panthera leo spelaea
the largest
they used mammoth bones, tusks, Length: 10–12.5 ft (3–3.8 m) Length: 4.4–8.2ft (1.3–2.5 m) Length: 7 ft (2.1 m)
fossil woolly Similar to today’s African rhino A large-headed oxen with a One of the largest lions that ever
and skins to build shelters. mammoth.
but it was adapted to the cold. heavy coat that still exists. lived. May have been patterned.
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