AboutDavid Prus Expertise I can answer any general questions about dinosaurs and on prehistoric mammals in the Cenozoic. I also know a bit about the media's various depictions of dinosaurs and their inaccuracies. I don't know much about "microfauna"-small animals, or about Paleozoic besides some knowledge about Permian animals. Plants are right out, I'm afraid.
Experience I have been interested in dinosaurs for most of my life, own a large collection of scientific papers and books on the subject, and am a member of the Field Museum in Chicago.
Education/Credentials I am in college, but studied biology and geology both in high school and as a personal effort.
Question Dear Sir,
Mammoths were contemporary with humans; yet their remains are found deep in the permafrost. How did they get there?.
Francis
Answer Based on fossil evidence and the behavior of modern elephants, it's likely that mammoths migrated seasonally. The ice ages were less of "all blizzards all the time" and more of extreme winters that lasted long and much colder. Like today's elephant herds, they probably took time to cross the hundreds of miles migrating (remember, Russia and Canada are the largest countries on Earth), and no doubt they came across the bitterest conditions.
Most of the frozen mammoths are youngsters or males, which are the most vulnerable in the herds of today's elephants. Young elephants today are vulnerable to drowning, starvation, dehydration, and entrapment in mud. Males, meanwhile, tend to travel alone, and are less likely to get assistance. At any rate, migration across frozen landscapes is very dangerous, and we see other animals like bison, horses, and rhinos suffering the same fate.
