Tusk Reveals The Mammoth's Extensive Resume Of Eagerness In The Northern Part Of The State.
Key Sentence:
- Scientists have analyzed the chemistry in mammoth tusks to determine how far it has traveled in its lifetime.
- Studies show that animals from the Ice Age have traveled the equivalent of twice around the world.
The woolly mammoth was the furry cousin of today's elephant and roamed the northern latitudes during the prehistoric cold spell known as the Pleistocene. The work highlights how extraordinary the mobility of these ancient creatures was.
"It's not clear if he was a seasonal migrant, but he covered serious terrain," said study co-author Dr. Matthew Waller of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "He has visited many parts of Alaska at some point in his life, which is amazing considering the size of the area." Mammoth tusks are somewhat like tree rings, so much so that they record information about the animal's life history.
In addition, some of the chemical elements present in tusks during an animal's lifetime can act as map pins, generally indicating where the animal is going. By combining these two things, the researchers developed the story of the journey of a male mammoth that lived in Alaska 17,000 years ago. His body was found near Mount Brooks in the northern part of the state.
"From the moment they are born until they die, they keep a journal, and it's written on their tusks," said co-author Dr. Pat Druckermiller, Director of the North Museum at the University of Alaska. "Mother Earth usually doesn't give a record of someone's comfortable and lifelong life."
Mammoths continued to add new layers to their tusks throughout their lives. When the tusks are cut lengthwise, these growth lines look like piles of ice cream cakes, providing a chronological record of their existence.
The researchers combined the animal's journey by studying the various types or isotopes of the chemical elements strontium and oxygen contained in the 1.5-meter-long tusk.
They found that mammoths covered 70,000 km of the Alaskan landscape for 28 years on the planet. For comparison: the perimeter of the earth is 40,000 km.
This study offers evidence of the extinction of this extraordinary creature. With such a diverse range of animals, the invasion of forests into habitats favored by mammoths would put herds under pressure until the end of the last ice age. This limits how far they can travel in search of food and increases the risk of predators. The results of the international team's work are published in the journal Science.