Mammoths: ice age giants and why they vanished
Woolly giants 4 meters tall with 4-meter tusks survived until 4000 years ago when pyramids already stood.
Four tons of fur against minus 50
Woolly mammoths stood 3 to 4 meters tall and weighed 6 to 8 tons, with curved tusks 4 meters long, 10-centimeter fat plus 1-meter guard hair and small 30-centimeter ears against minus 50 cold.
Herds of 20 ate 200 kilograms of grass daily, migrated 1000 kilometers yearly across Siberia and Alaska and ground teeth replaced molars 6 times over 60-year lives.
Wrangel survivors and the blame
The last 500 mammoths lived on Wrangel Island until 4000 years ago, when Egypt built pyramids, dwarfed to 2 meters by inbreeding before thirst and storms killed them within 5 years.
Mainland herds vanished 10000 years ago as climate warmed 6 degrees, birch replaced grass on 70 percent of steppe and human hunters with 50 spears per site finished isolated groups.
- Height 4 meters weight 6 to 8 tons.
- Tusks curved 4 meters long for snow.
- Fur 1 meter plus 10 cm fat vs cold.
- Wrangel dwarfs lived until 4000 years ago.
- Vanished from warming plus human hunting.