Mammoths and Mastadons
Both mammoths and mastodons lived during the Pleistocene era in Europe, North America, and Asia. During this time, “the earth was covered with a coat of ice” (www.uen.org/centennial/12AdaptationA.html). In order for these animals to survive such cold conditions, they developed a long, thick, shaggy coat of hair to keep them warm (www.uen.org/centennial/12AdaptationA.html). Scientists have determined that they “became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene about 10,000 years ago” (Giuliani). Three possible explanations for their extinction include: changes in climate, deadly viruses, or over-hunting by man. After the discovery of frozen a mammoth in Siberia, scientists are hopeful that they may one day be able to clone a mammoth. A climate change may have led to the demise of mammoths and mastodons. During the ice ages, the weather was cool and brisk, and the ai
There is one other possible way of doing this. If scientists were able to retrieve a frozen sperm sample from the frozen carcass, they could fertilize and elephant egg. The only problem with this is: “the offspring of this more or less standard artificial fertilization procedure wouldn’t be a mammoth. However, over time selective breeding could wring out all the elephant traits, producing a mammoth” (Wilson). Another possibility for their extinction is the appearance of viruses. Humans may have been responsible for transporting viruses that mammoths and mastodons were not immune to. Viruses could have been transported through “the lice in their hair, the fleas on their dogs, or within their own bodies” (www.discovery.ca/mammoth/extinction-virus.cfm). To find out if this is possible, scientists would have “to extract cellular material from the mammoth fossils” (www.discovery.c
Some topics in this essay:
America Asia,
Scholastic Action,
Mammoths Mastodons,
mammoths mastodons,
clone mammoth,
Anonymous Scholastic,
discovery frozen mammoth,
anonymous scholastic action,
discovery frozen,
frozen mammoth,
scholastic action,
anonymous scholastic,
elephant egg,
ice ages,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 608
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
Example Essays Home
