Woolly Mammoth Hair
The Woolly Mammoth was a prehistoric animal that resembled an elephant. It lived during the Pleistocene epoch, and was one of the last in the line of mammoth species. Its closest modern-day relative is the Asian elephant. The species is probably the best studied of any prehistoric animal because of actual frozen carcasses having been discovered in Alaska and Siberia, Russia. Additionally, skeletons, teeth, stomach contents and dung have all been recovered and studies, and the Woolly Mammoth was depicted in prehistoric cave paintings made by early humans.
The Woolly Mammoth was roughly the same size as modern African elephants. It was well adapted to the cold environment during the last ice age, being covered in fur, with an outer layer of long guard hairs and a shorter undercoat. It had short ears and tail to make it less susceptible to frostbite and to prevent heat loss. It had long, curved tusks, which it used, along with its trunk, for handling objects, fighting and foraging. Its diet consisted primarily of grass and sedges.
There is evidence that the Woolly Mammoth coexisted with early humans, who are believed to have hunted the mammoth for food, as well as used its bones and tusks for making items such as tools and art. Near the end of the Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, it disappeared from its mainland range, although isolated pockets of the Woolly Mammoth are believed to have survived on St. Paul Island, Alaska until about 5,600 years ago, and on Wrangel Island in Russia until about 4,000 years ago.
The item in my collection is an approximately one gram sample of Woolly Mammoth hair/fur that was recovered from a specimen discovered in the permafrost in Yakutia (North Siberia), Russia.
The Woolly Mammoth was roughly the same size as modern African elephants. It was well adapted to the cold environment during the last ice age, being covered in fur, with an outer layer of long guard hairs and a shorter undercoat. It had short ears and tail to make it less susceptible to frostbite and to prevent heat loss. It had long, curved tusks, which it used, along with its trunk, for handling objects, fighting and foraging. Its diet consisted primarily of grass and sedges.
There is evidence that the Woolly Mammoth coexisted with early humans, who are believed to have hunted the mammoth for food, as well as used its bones and tusks for making items such as tools and art. Near the end of the Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, it disappeared from its mainland range, although isolated pockets of the Woolly Mammoth are believed to have survived on St. Paul Island, Alaska until about 5,600 years ago, and on Wrangel Island in Russia until about 4,000 years ago.
The item in my collection is an approximately one gram sample of Woolly Mammoth hair/fur that was recovered from a specimen discovered in the permafrost in Yakutia (North Siberia), Russia.
