Volchya Griva - 11-meter hill in the Kargatsky district Novosibirsk region about 8 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide. During excavations in 1957, the bones of a mammoth, bison and horse were first found here, and further research made it possible to establish that 14-11 thousand years ago the last Siberian mammoths. In those days, Wolf Mane was a long and narrow peninsula among swamps and lakes, which ended in a steep cliff. Today it is a paleontological natural monument of regional significance.
In 2015, more than 600 remains of mammoths of the species Mammuthus primigenius were discovered on the hill, which is the largest local concentration for this species in Asia. The 2016 season brought a new discovery: scientists and students of Tomsk state university(TSU) discovered a deep bone-bearing level, the existence of which no one suspected. At a depth of approximately 1.7 to 2.1 meters lay the bones of baby and adult mammoths, which were significantly larger than their younger (geologically speaking) relatives. This alone could be called a success of the expedition, however, as the head of the laboratory of Mesozoic and Cenozoic ecosystems Sergei Leshchinsky explained, there is an unspoken rule “of the need to check the underlying sediments with at least two shovels.” A random test showed that subsequent excavations would take at least another ten days. As a result, paleontologists discovered vertebrae, ribs, limb bones and other bone deposits with the highest degree concentration: per one square meter there were more than 100 fragments. Such a high number of remains of prehistoric animals is not found either on Volchaya Griva or in any other mammoth locality in Russia. The remains of woolly mammoths, which lay at such a deep level for Volchya Mane, are well preserved: not only individual fragments were found, but also anatomical joints, which will allow paleontologists to obtain more information about the place and causes of death of animals, determine their age, size and other parameters . This was the result of the peculiarities of the burial: layers of clay and sand preserved the remains of animals in a small ravine several years after their death. Among the largest fragments found is a femur almost 1 meter 15 centimeters long. It probably belonged to a male mammoth, 45–50 years old, whose weight was 5–6 tons or even more, and whose height, including soft tissues, exceeded three meters. Its remains lay in the rocks for 25-30 thousand years. Scientists note big difference in sizes between mammoths from the lower and more high levels. This is explained by the fact that in the final period of its existence this species of animal experienced powerful pressure from unfavorable environmental factors. Judging by the fact that many remains of late mammoths show signs of osteodystrophy, the animals suffered from mineral starvation. This is what brought them to animal salt licks like Volchya Mane. In total, the 2016 expedition discovered 785 fragments. In addition to mammoths, several bones were found that belonged to bison, horses, predators (probably fox or arctic fox) and rodents. Check out one of the versions
It is believed that the word “mammoth” comes from the phrase “mang ont”, which translated from Mansi means “earthen horn”. Then it spread to other languages of the world, including English. These huge animals lived during the Pleistocene era. They inhabited the territory of Europe, North Asia and North America. Many researchers and archaeologists are still concerned with the mystery: how did these animals disappear from the face of the Earth?
Finds on the territory of Russia
The mammoth is an extinct species of animal. He is one of the closest relatives of the elephant. Scientists still argue about when mammoths became extinct. At excavations of sites of ancient man, which belong to stone age, drawings of these animals were found. IN Voronezh region archaeologists have discovered mammoth bones. Ancient man used them to build his home. There is an assumption that they were also used as fuel.
In both Siberia and Alaska, researchers found mammoth corpses that were preserved thanks to permafrost. In Oleg Kuvaev’s book entitled “Territory” you can even read a story about how one of the archaeologists knitted himself a sweater from the wool of an ancient animal. Scientists are finding remains of mammoth bones in the most unexpected places. Teeth and bones are often found in the Moscow region and even in the capital itself.
Appearance of animals
Mammoths were no larger in size than a modern elephant. However, their torso was more massive, and their limbs were shorter. The wool of mammoths was long, and at the top of their jaws they had menacing tusks up to 4 meters long. In winter, with the help of these tusks, like a bulldozer, the animals shoveled snow. Some subspecies of mammoths reached unprecedented weight - as much as 10.5 tons.
Inhabitants of Wrangel Island
There are many theories about when mammoths became extinct. One of them belongs to the candidate of geological sciences Sergei Vartanyan. In 1993, on the territory of Wrangel Island, he discovered the remains of the so-called dwarf mammoths. Their height did not exceed 1.8 m. Researchers, using radiocarbon dating, came to the conclusion that mammoths could have lived here 3.7 thousand years ago.
Before this discovery, scientists believed that the last mammoths could have lived in Taimyr about 10 thousand years ago. The scientist’s find showed that these animals lived on Wrangel Island simultaneously with the flourishing of the Minoan culture on the territory of the island. Crete, Sumerian civilization, and the 11th dynasty of pharaohs in Egypt.
Basic Assumptions
Currently, there are two main hypotheses that explain why mammoths became extinct. According to the first, this was due to deterioration climatic conditions. Proponents of another hypothesis believe that the main cause was human activity - hunting. During the Upper Paleolithic era, people had already settled throughout the Earth. It was at this time that these huge animals were exterminated.
Main hypothesis
Research shows that mammoths began to die out as a species quite a long time ago - about 120 thousand years ago. The final disappearance occurred at the boundary between two ice ages. Gradually the population decreased from several million to tens of thousands. During ice age It was so cold on Earth that the grass that these animals ate became very rare. The meadows in the north gradually began to turn into forests and tundra. The result of the disappearance of this species was precisely the cooling due to the onset of the Ice Age.
Epidemic hypothesis
The mammoth is an extinct animal, but it is very difficult to say why this species disappeared from the face of the Earth. There is another theory: American scientists Preston Max and Ross McPhee hypothesized that the cause could be an epidemic. The people who then shared territory with mammoths were able to adapt and survive. And it was more difficult for animals to develop immunity due to their huge size and slowness. When mammoths became infected, they went to water bodies and died there. Scientists have noticed that greatest number The burial places of these animals are located precisely on the banks of rivers and lakes.
However, some finds by archaeologists do not support this hypothesis: scientists often find undigested food in the stomachs of animals, and the remains of grass in the mouths. Apparently, the moment when mammoths became extinct happened completely suddenly.
Invasion from Space
There is another hypothesis about why mammoths became extinct and when. It is believed that they could have been destroyed by a huge comet that collided with the Earth 13 thousand years ago. Because of this comet, researchers believe, people were forced to take up farming. Archaeologists discovered evidence of the collision in southern Turkey. The comet destroyed not only mammoths, but also other types of animals. It was because of this that people had to abandon hunting and gathering and switch to agricultural work.
Disappearance due to incest
There is another theory according to which the last mammoths remaining on the island. Wrangel, became extinct due to inbreeding. This term refers to inbreeding, which results in various deformities and genetic abnormalities. Thus, the extinction of these animals was due to a reduction in genetic diversity. On the territory of the island. There were about 500-1000 individuals living in Wrangel - at least that’s the estimate scientists give. And 500 individuals is minimal amount, which is necessary for the survival of any species of endangered animals.
The approximate time when mammoths, or rather the last of their representatives, became extinct is about 4 thousand years ago. However, shortly before the death of this population, another small group of animals was struggling to survive on modern territory St. Paul's Island. It is located between the coast of Alaska and the Far East.
Why did mammoths become extinct?
In 3rd grade, students study this topic. Children need to have a very clear explanation of the reasons for the disappearance of these animals. Therefore, we can recommend that students and their parents use the main two hypotheses about the disappearance of these ancient animals. However, in addition to two assumptions that mammoths were exterminated by hunters and that they could have disappeared from the face of the Earth due to worsening climatic conditions, homework Other theories can also be covered. For example, extinction due to a comet collision or due to inbreeding.
Arguments against hypotheses
Many archaeologists do not agree with the hypothesis that these animals disappeared due to hunting. For example, about 13 thousand years ago, ancient man had already mastered the entire space of Siberia. However, the time when the last mammoths died out in this territory was about 10 thousand years ago. Researchers note that hunting animals of this size was dangerous and impractical. In addition, installing traps in frozen ground probably took a lot of time and effort, especially considering that it was done using rather primitive tools.
However, other animals also disappeared from the planet at the same time that mammoths became extinct. The history of the world has evidence that during the same era, wild horses that lived in the vastness of America also disappeared. Researchers have a logical question: if mammoths became extinct, why did their contemporaries survive: bison, caribou, musk oxen?
In addition, a wild horse, the tarpan, survived, which was exterminated only in the second half of the 19th century. Despite the abundance of hypotheses, it is believed that the most substantiated theory is the impact of the Ice Age. A study conducted by American scientist Dale Gharty confirms the climate hypothesis. The scientist came to the conclusion about its reliability after studying hundreds of remains of mammoths and people. Mammoths easily carried severe frost, but when it got warmer, the snow froze on their long fur, and this was a real disaster. The fur became an icy shell, which in no way protected the animal from the cold.
Bone disease
Another assumption was made by scientists who conducted a study of the remains of animals found in Kemerovo region. Archaeologists believe that mammoths could have disappeared here due to bone disease - there was a decrease in calcium levels in local waters. The animals tried to find salt licks to make up for this deficiency, but this did not help them escape. An ancient man was guarding the weakened mammoths. Each of the hypotheses has the right to exist - after all, if none of the assumptions can be proven, then they cannot be refuted.
Settled all over North America and Eurasia
Were the size of an African elephant
There were more than 16 species of mammoths
Extinct 4500 years ago
Were herbivores
Information about Mammoths
The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), also known as the Woolly Mammoth, is extinct prehistoric appearance mammals, from the elephant family, which appeared on planet Earth about 5 million years ago and became extinct about 4,500 years ago. Its fossilized bones were first discovered in the late 18th century, and was named by paleontologist Joshua Brooks in 1828.
In drawings, mammoths are often depicted as huge prehistoric elephants, which were covered with very long hair. This is true for Mammuthus primigenius. Most people do not even suspect that there were more than a dozen various types mammoths, which settled throughout North America and Eurasia. For example, the Steppe Mammoth and the Imperial Mammoth had practically no wool. But the Woolly Mammoth was the most common species.
Mammoths grew approximately 4.5 meters in height at the shoulder, were about 6 meters in length, and their weight could reach up to 6 tons. Such dimensions made these animals approximately the same size as African elephant. It will be interesting to know that many people consider Mammoths to be huge animals, which are much more massive and larger than modern elephants. In fact, their dimensions were almost the same. True, there were still two giant species mammoths: the Imperial mammoth, which weighed about 10 tons, and the Steppe mammoth, whose weight reached 15 tons.
The reader will also be interested to know that the tusks of the Woolly Mammoth grew up to 5 meters long. Modern paleontologists believe that such long fangs may have been used to fight saber-toothed tigers. However, this was probably not their main function. Most likely, animals used such tusks to dig the ground and look for food, and it is also likely that males used them during mating games.
The last mammoths disappeared about 4,500 years ago. It is believed that overload caused by climate change and the appearance of people who began to hunt these animals led to the death of this species. 
Mammoths are the majestic animals of our past... What did they look like? When did you live? Why did they die out? See what he supposedly looked like, as well as photos of a mammoth from museums and mammoth photo monuments.
(mammoth photo No. 1.1)
(mammoth photo No. 1.2)
Evolutionary scientists previously believed that mammoths went extinct 10-11 thousand years ago at the end of the last ice age. The discovery of mammoth bones on Wrangel Island was a real shock for them. The relatively young age of the mammoths (4,000 to 7,000 years) discovered on Wrangel Island was considered an exception, the result of isolation on the island at the end of the Ice Age. But there is another island where young woolly mammoths (5724 years old) were found and this is St. Paul Island in Alaska.
(mammoth photo No. 2.1)
(mammoth photo No. 2.2)
Two huge elephants were found in the Nepal region. What’s interesting is that they don’t look at all like ordinary Asian elephants, but they resemble cave drawings of mammoths. One of the males is about four meters tall - much larger than any of the largest known Asian elephants. Both animals have mammoth features, such as a sloping back, a tail somewhat reminiscent of a reptile's, and a large dome-shaped bulge on the head.
(mammoth photo No. 3.1)
In Yakutsk, a well-preserved adult male mammoth was found on the banks of the Berezovka River, a right tributary of the Kolyma River, in 1900.
(mammoth photo No. 3.2)
Skeleton of a Colombian mammoth in the museum, Height - 4 meters, weight - 10 tons, a thick coat of wool 70–80 cm long was assumed.
(mammoth photo No. 4.1)
In Yakutsk, in the courtyard of the Academy of Sciences, Yuki, a baby mammoth, was found lying in the snow. woolly mammoth, very well preserved. His brain extraction was a sensational event in the scientific world.
(mammoth photo No. 4.2)
in 1977, the corpse of a small mammoth, Dima, was discovered in the upper reaches of the Kolyma River. He was named the Magadan or Kirgilyakh mammoth
(mammoth photo No. 5.1)
A mammoth skeleton in the Yaroslavl Museum of History and Culture of the Peoples of the North, in Yakutia, the capital of Sakha.
(mammoth photo No. 5.2)
The skeleton of the Lena mammoth was found on the Lena River in 1799. The skeleton was assembled and shown first in the Kunstkamera, and then in the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences. This is the first complete mammoth skeleton that fell into the hands of scientists.
(mammoth photo No. 6.1)
In the city of Magadan, sculptor Yuri Rudenko installed a statue of a mammoth made of iron, decorated on the outside with elements of a clock, which symbolizes the “connection of times.” The height of the mammoth is 4 meters, and the width is 6 m. Over time, the metal will rust and become “red”, like the skin of a mammoth. In the middle of the monument there are elements that, when the sea breeze blows, will produce a sound reminiscent of the roar of a mammoth.
(mammoth photo No. 6.2)
A concrete ten-meter statue of a mammoth, the monument is installed on the banks of the Ob River, in the city of Salekhard in the Arctic Circle in Russia at the crossing and looks at the Polar Urals. In Salekhard, even to this day, remains of mammoths are found
(mammoth photo No. 7.1)
In the city of Khanty-Mansiysk, in the capital of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra, there is a museum of ancient animals "Archeopark". Under open air there are life-size sculptural groups of ancient animals. There are also mammoths here. They seem to be alive - 11 adult mammoths and a small mammoth, as if they came out of the centuries-old taiga.
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We continue to delve into the history of the origin of mammoths. It turns out that the composition mammoth fauna included about 80 species of mammals. They managed to adapt to living in cold continental climate periglacial forest-steppe and tundra-steppe regions with permafrost, harsh winters with little snow and powerful summer insolation. About 11 thousand years ago, due to sudden warming and climate humidification, the mammoth fauna disintegrates. Some species, such as the mammoth itself, the woolly rhinoceros, the giant deer, cave lion and others completely disappeared from the face of the earth. The reasons for the extinction of the mammoth fauna are not fully known. Behind long history During its existence, it already experienced warm interglacial periods, and was then able to survive. Perhaps the latest warming has caused a more significant restructuring natural environment, or maybe the species themselves have exhausted their evolutionary capabilities.
Mammoths, woolly and Columbian, lived over a vast territory: from the South and Central Europe to Chukotka, Northern China and Japan (Hokkaido Island), as well as in North America. The existence of the Colombian mammoth was 250 - 10, woolly 300 - 4 thousand years ago. There is an opinion that mammoths were not the ancestors of modern elephants: they appeared on earth later and died out, without leaving even distant descendants. But this issue remains controversial.
Mammoths roamed in small herds, sticking to river valleys and feeding on grass, branches of trees and bushes. Such herds were very mobile - to collect required amount feeding in the tundra-steppe was not easy. The size of the mammoths was quite impressive: large males could reach a height of 3.5 meters, and their tusks were up to 4 m long and weighed about 100 kilograms. A thick coat, 70–80 cm long, protected mammoths from the cold.
WHAT DID MAMMOTHES EAT?
The structural features of the limbs and trunk, the proportions of the body, the shape and size of the mammoth’s tusks indicate that it, like modern elephants, ate various plant food. Using their tusks, the animals dug out food from under the snow, tore off the bark of trees, and extracted vein ice, which was used instead of water in winter. For grinding food, the mammoth had only one, very large tooth on each side of the upper and lower jaws at the same time. The chewing surface of these teeth was a wide, long plate covered with transverse enamel ridges. Apparently, in the warm season the animals fed mainly on herbaceous vegetation. In the intestines and oral cavity The mammoths that died in the summer were dominated by grasses and sedges; there were lingonberry bushes, green mosses and thin shoots of willow, birch, and alder. The weight of an adult mammoth's stomach filled with food could reach 240 kg.
BUILD: HOW YOU LOOKED
Adult mammoths were massive animals, with long legs and a short body. Their height at the withers reached 3.5 m in males and 3 m in females. The main difference between them external sign there is a pronounced cervical interception between the “hump” and the head. In mammoth calves, these features were softened, and the upper head-back line was a single, weakly curved upward arc. Such an arch is present in adult mammoths, as well as in modern elephants, and is connected, purely mechanically, with maintaining enormous weight internal organs. The mammoth's head was larger than that of modern elephants. The ears are small, oval elongated, 5–6 times smaller than those of asian elephant, and 15–16 times less than that of the African one. The rostral part of the skull was quite narrow, the alveoli of the tusks were located very close to each other, and the base of the trunk rested on them. The tusks are more powerful than those of African and Asian elephants: their length in old males reached 4 m with a base diameter of 16–18 cm, in addition, they were twisted up and inward. The tusks of females were smaller (2–2.2 m, diameter at the base 8–10 cm) and almost straight. The ends of the tusks, due to the peculiarities of foraging, were usually worn away only from the outside. The legs of mammoths were massive, five-toed, with 3 small claws on the front and 4 on the hind limbs; the feet are rounded, their diameter in adults was 40–45 cm.
But still the most unique feature appearance mammoth - a thick coat consisting of three types of hair: undercoat, intermediate and covering, or guard hair. The color of the coat was relatively the same in males and females: on the forehead and on the crown of the head there was a cap of black, forward-directed coarse hair, 15–20 cm long, and the trunk and ears were covered with undercoat and awns of brown or brown color. The entire body of the mammoth was also covered with long, 80–90 cm guard hairs, under which a thick yellowish undercoat was hidden. The color of the skin of the body was light yellow or brown; dark pigment spots were observed in areas free from fur. During the winter, mammoths moulted; The winter coat was thicker and lighter than the summer coat.
WHAT THE MAMMOTH FINDS TELL US ABOUT
Mammoth remains at early Paleolithic human sites were rare and belonged mainly to young individuals. About the importance of mammoths in life primitive people This is evidenced by the fact that 20–30 thousand years ago, artists of the Cro-Magnon era depicted mammoths on stone and bone. Flat images were painted on cave walls, on slate and graphite plates, and on fragments of tusks; sculptural - created from bone, marl or slate using flint burins. It is very possible that such figurines were used as talismans, family totems, or played another ritual role.
From the 18th to the 19th centuries in Siberia, it is known that more than twenty reliable finds of mammoth remains were found in the form of frozen carcasses, their parts, skeletons with remains of soft tissue and skin. It can also be assumed that some of the finds remained unknown to science; many were discovered too late and could not be examined. Using the example of the Adams mammoth, discovered in 1799 on the Bykovsky Peninsula, it is clear that the results of the study about the animals found were received only several years after they were discovered. This is understandable: getting to the far corners of Siberia, even in the second half of the 20th century, was not easy. And the excavations themselves were carried out with difficulty: the greatest difficulty was extracting the corpse from the frozen ground and transporting it. The work of excavating and delivering the mammoth, discovered in the Berezovka River valley in 1900, can be called heroic, considering the transportation.
Now the number of finds of mammoth remains has doubled. This is due to the widespread development of the North, the development of transport and communications. The first comprehensive expedition using modern technology there was a trip for the Taimyr mammoth, found in 1948 on an unnamed river, later called the Mammoth River. Removing the remains of animals “sealed” into the permafrost has become much easier these days thanks to the use of motor pumps that defrost and erode the soil with water. The “cemetery” of mammoths, discovered by N.F., should be considered a remarkable natural monument. Grigoriev in 1947 on the Berelekh River in Yakutia. For 200 meters, the river bank here is covered with a scattering of mammoth bones washed out of the bank slope.
By studying the Magadan (1977) and Yamal (1988) mammoth calves, scientists were able to clarify not only many issues of the anatomy and morphology of mammoths, but also draw a number of important conclusions about their habitat and the causes of extinction. The last few years have brought new remarkable discoveries: special mention should be made of the Yukagir mammoth (2002), which represents unique, from a scientific point of view, material. The head of an adult mammoth with remains of soft tissue and hair and a baby mammoth, found in 2007 in the Yuribey River basin in Yamal, were discovered. Outside Russia, one can note the finds of mammoth remains made by American scientists in Alaska, as well as a unique “trap cemetery” with the remains of more than 100 mammoths, discovered by L. Agenbrod in the town of Hot Springs (South Dakota, USA) in 1974.
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