APART FROM FORMERLY GLACIATED AREAS, WOOLLY MAMMOTH REMAINS
ARE ABUNDANT IN THE SURFICIAL SEDIMENTS OF THE MID AND HIGH LATITUDES
OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, INCLUDING WESTERN EUROPE, NORTHERN AND EASTERN
ASIA, ALASKA AND THE YUKON. THERE ARE PROBABLY MILLIONS OF MAMMOTHS BURIED
IN THE PERMAFROST OF SIBERIA ALONE. THE MAMMOTHS ARE FOUND WITH A WIDE
VARIETY OF OTHER MAMMALS, LARGE AND SMALL, MANY OF WHICH WERE GRAZERS.
THEY LIVED IN A GRASSLAND ENVIRONMENT WITH A LONG GROWING SEASON, MILD
WINTERS, VERY LITTLE PERMAFROST, AND A WIDE DIVERSITY OF PLANTS-QUITE
DIFFERENT FROM THE CLIMATE IN THE REGION TODAY.
THE MAMMOTHS AND OTHER ANIMALS COLONISED THE REGION AFTER
THE FLOOD DURING THE ICE AGE. THE REGION'S CLIMATE DURING THE ICE
AGE WAS IDEAL FOR RAPID POPULATION GROWTH AND, IN THE 600 OR SO YEARS
BEFORE THEIR DEMISE, THE POPULATION HAD GROWN TO MANY MILLIONS OF ANIMALS.
THEY WERE BURIED IN THE DUST STORMS THAT DEPOSITED THE LOESS BLANKETS
FOUND IN THOSE REGIONS TODAY. SOME WERE ENTOMBED IN A STANDING POSITION.
THE GOOD STATE OF PRESERVATION OF THE STOMACH CONTENTS DOES NOT CALL FOR
SUPER-RAPID FREEZING OF THE CARCASSES. RATHER THAN FOOD DIGESTION, THE
MAMMOTH STOMACH ACTS AS A FOOD STORAGE POUCH. THE MAMMOTHS BECAME EXTINCT
WHEN, AT THE END OF THE ICE AGE, THE CLIMATE IN THE REGION BECAME MORE
CONTINENTAL, WITH COLDER WINTERS, WARMER SUMMERS, AND DRIER CONDITIONS.
FROZEN CARCASSES AND MANY THOUSANDS OF
TONS OF BONES AND TUSKS OF WOOLLY MAMMOTHS ARE BURIED IN SIBERIA AND ALASKA.
IN MARCH 2000, THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRODUCED A SPECIAL ON THE EXCAVATION
OF A CARCASS IN NORTH CENTRAL SIBERIA, CALLED THE JARKOV MAMMOTH. THIS
MAMMOTH WAS CUT OUT OF THE PERMAFROST AND TRANSPORTED BY HELICOPTER INTO
COLD STORAGE FOR FUTURE ANALYSIS AND POSSIBLE CLONING.1
MAMMOTH REMAINS HAVE PUZZLED SCIENTISTS AND LAYMEN FOR HUNDREDS
OF YEARS. MANY EXPLANATIONS HAVE BEEN OFFERED. ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR
HYPOTHESES IS THAT ONE EVENTFUL DAY, THE HAIRY ELEPHANTS WERE PEACEFULLY
GRAZING ON GRASS AND BUTTERCUPS WHEN SUDDENLY, TRAGEDY STRUCK, AND MILLIONS
OF THEM FROZE INSTANTLY.
THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH
IN SIBERIA, ALASKA, AND THE YUKON TERRITORY OF CANADA. THESE AREAS, TOGETHER
WITH THE SURROUNDING SHALLOW OCEAN (BERING STRAIT), ARE CALLED BERINGIA.
THERE ARE STILL UNKNOWNS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
IN BERINGIA. SOME INFORMATION IS CONFLICTING. HOWEVER, THE DATA IS POINTING
TO A UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT AND EXTINCTION OF THE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS IN BERINGIA.
WHAT IS A WOOLLY MAMMOTH?
A WOOLLY MAMMOTH (MAMMUTHUS PRIMIGENIUS) IS ONE OF
SEVERAL TYPES OF MAMMOTHS IN THE GENUS MAMMUTHUS WITHIN THE ORDER
PROBOSCIDEA. THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH IS ESSENTIALLY A HAIRY ELEPHANT WITH A
LARGE SHOULDER HUMP, A SLOPING BACK, SMALL EARS, TINY TAIL, UNIQUE TEETH,
A SMALL TRUNK WITH A DISTINCTIVE TIP AND TWO FINGER-LIKE PROJECTIONS,
HUGE SPIRALLY CURVED TUSKS UP TO 3.5 METERS LONG, AND SPIRAL LOCKS OF
DARK HAIR COVERING A SILKY UNDERFUR.2
MAMMOTHS ARE CLASSIFIED MAINLY ON VARIABLES SUCH AS MOLAR
HYPSODONTY (HEIGHT OF THE CROWN), NUMBER OF LAMELLAE (RIDGES ON CROWN),
AND ENAMEL THICKNESS. HISTORY SHOWS THERE HAS BEEN MUCH TAXONOMIC SPLITTING
OF MAMMOTHS, AS WELL AS OTHER MEMBERS OF PROBOSCIDEA. IT IS LIKELY THAT
THEY ARE ALL DESCENDED FROM A SINGLE CREATED KIND.2
IN GENERAL, THERE SEEM TO BE TWO MAIN VARIETIES OF MAMMOTHS ON BOTH EURASIA
AND NORTH AMERICA. THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH IS THE SMALLER VARIETY THAT GENERALLY
INHABITED THE NORTH. THE SECOND, MORE SOUTHERN VARIETY, FROM BOTH EURASIA
AND NORTH AMERICA CAN BE LUMPED TOGETHER FOR SIMPLIFICATION AND REFERRED
TO AS THE COLUMBIAN MAMMOTH (MAMMUTHUS COLUMBI).
FIGURE 2. DISTRIBUTION OF WOOLLY MAMMOTH REMAINS,
AND THE MAMMOTH STEPPE. GLACIATED AREAS ARE SHOWN SPECKLED. MAMMOTH STEPPE
IS SHOWN HATCHED. THE AREA REFERRED TO AS BERINGIA IS SHOWN SEPARATELY
(AFTER GUTHRIE
143). NOTE THAT THE EXTENT OF THE
NORTHERN AND EASTERN BOUNDARIES OF THE SCANDINAVIAN ICE SHEET IS CONTROVERSIAL.
MAMMOTH DISTRIBUTION
MAMMOTHS ARE COMMONLY FOUND IN SURFICIAL SEDIMENTS FROM
WESTERN EUROPE EASTWARD THROUGH NORTHERN AND EASTERN ASIA, ALASKA AND
THE YUKON (FIGURE 2).3,4 MAMMOTH REMAINS ARE ALSO FOUND ON SOME OF
THE ISLANDS IN THE BERING SEA5,6
AND ARE DREDGED FROM THE SHALLOW CONTINENTAL SHELVES SURROUNDING BERINGIA.7,8 ENORMOUS NUMBERS OF ICE AGE MAMMALS, MOST
COMMONLY MAMMOTHS, ARE DREDGED UP FROM THE UNCONSOLIDATED SEDIMENTS OF
THE NORTH SEA BY TRAWLERS.9
WOOLLY MAMMOTHS ARE FOUND IN ABUNDANCE SOUTH OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ICE
SHEET. THEY ARE RARE IN FORMERLY GLACIATED AREAS. MAMMOTH AND MASTODON
TEETH HAVE BEEN DREDGED FROM 40 SITES ALONG THE CONTINENTAL SHELF OFF
THE EASTERN US IN WATER UP TO 120 M DEEP.10
IN SIBERIA, THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH INHABITED THE WHOLE AREA
FROM THE URAL MOUNTAINS TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THEIR EAST-WEST DISTRIBUTION
IS GENERALLY UNIFORM, EXCEPT THAT THEY ARE ESPECIALLY ABUNDANT IN NORTHEAST
SIBERIA.11 THEIR NUMBERS
INCREASE FARTHER NORTH.12,13 MAMMOTH REMAINS ARE AMAZINGLY ABUNDANT ON THE LYAKHOV
ISLANDS14 AND THE OTHER ISLANDS OF THE NEW SIBERIAN ISLANDS, 230
KM NORTH OF THE ARCTIC COAST.12,15
FROZEN MAMMOTH CARCASSES ARE USUALLY FOUND ERODING OUT OF RIVER BANKS
AND ALONG THE SHORE OF THE ARCTIC OCEAN.
MAMMOTH FAUNA
WOOLLY MAMMOTHS ARE NOT THE ONLY FOSSIL MAMMALS FOUND IN
THE PERMAFROST OF BERINGIA. THERE ARE A WIDE RANGE OF OTHER MAMMALS, LARGE
AND SMALL, THAT ACCOMPANY THE MAMMOTHS. THESE INCLUDE THE WOOLLY RHINOCEROS,
WOLF, FOX, LION, BROWN BEAR, CAMEL, DEER, GROUND SLOTH, PIKA, WOLVERINE,
FERRET, GROUND SQUIRREL, MOOSE, REINDEER, YAK, MUSK OX, GIANT BEAVER,
LEMMING, PORCUPINE, COYOTE, SKUNK, MASTODON, ANTELOPE, SHEEP, VOLES, HARE
AND RABBIT, PLUS MANY SPECIES OF BIRDS, RODENTS, HORSES, AND BISONS.4,16-19 FROZEN CARCASSES OF THESE ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY
THE WOOLLY RHINOCEROS, ARE ALSO FOUND. GENERALLY, THE SAME ANIMALS ARE
FOUND TOGETHER THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE MID AND HIGH LATITUDES OF THE NORTHERN
HEMISPHERE.3,20
HOW MANY MAMMOTHS ARE BURIED IN SIBERIA?
THERE HAS BEEN MUCH CONTROVERSY OVER HOW MANY WOOLLY MAMMOTHS
ARE FROZEN IN THE PERMAFROST OF SIBERIA. A FEW SCIENTISTS ATTEMPT TO
DOWNPLAY THE NUMBER,21 BUT PRACTICALLY ALL OBSERVERS DESCRIBE THE NUMBER IN
SUPERLATIVES.
THE TOP EXPERT ON WOOLLY MAMMOTHS IN SIBERIA, NIKOLAI VERESHCHAGIN,
HAS SPENT NEARLY A HALF CENTURY OF RESEARCH ON THE MAMMOTH FAUNA. HE STATES
THAT THERE ARE MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LARGE MAMMALS BURIED
IN SIBERIA22 AND ALSO MANY MILLIONS OF BONES.23
ONE ESTIMATE HE MADE FOR ONE REGION OF SIBERIA WOULD SUGGEST FIVE MILLION
MAMMOTHS BURIED.24 IS HE
EXAGGERATING? IT WOULD BE CONSERVATIVE, THEREFORE, TO CONCLUDE THAT SEVERAL
MILLION MAMMOTHS ARE BURIED IN BERINGIA.
PERPLEXING MAMMOTH DATA
THERE ARE MANY PERPLEXING ASPECTS TO THE SIBERIAN MAMMOTH
FINDS, INCLUDING THE EXISTENCE OF FROZEN CARCASSES AND THE GOOD PRESERVATION
OF THEIR STOMACH CONTENTS. IN ADDITION, A NUMBER OF THE CARCASSES AND
SKELETONS HAVE BEEN UNEARTHED IN A GENERAL STANDING POSITION, AS
IF THE ANIMAL SANK IN A BOG.25-27 THE SELERIKHAN
HORSE WAS ENTOMBED IN A GENERAL STANDING POSITION.28
THE NEW JARKOV MAMMOTH WAS DUG UP IN A STANDING POSITION.
IT IS ALSO RELEVANT THAT AN ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL FEATURES
OF THE CARCASSES SHOWS THAT THREE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS AND TWO WOOLLY RHINOCEROSES
SUFFOCATED, INCLUDING THE BERESOVKA (OR BERYOSOVKA) MAMMOTH.29-32 THE BERESOVKA MAMMOTH ALSO
HAD A BROKEN PELVIS, RIBS, AND RIGHT FORELEG.13,27
FOR CARCASSES TO BE FROZEN AND THE BONES AND TUSKS WELL
PRESERVED, QUICK BURIAL IS NECESSARY. BUT HOW COULD ALL THESE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS
HAVE BEEN FORCED INTO THE ROCK HARD PERMAFROST, WHICH STARTS ABOUT HALF
A METER DEEP, BELOW THE SUMMER MELT ZONE?
BERINGIAN PALEOENVIRONMENTAL DEDUCTIONS
THE ANIMALS THEMSELVES TELL US MUCH ABOUT THE PALEOENVIRONMENT
-A CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT.33 THE DIVERSITY OF ANIMALS WAS SO
GREAT THAT THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A HIGHLY DIVERSE VEGETATION.34
THE ONLY SIMILAR DIVERSITY OF MAMMALS IS ON THE SERENGETI OF EAST AFRICA.34,35 PRACTICALLY ALL THE LARGE MAMMALS WERE
GRAZERS THAT ATE A WIDE VARIETY OF HERBACEOUS VEGETATION, MAINLY
GRASSES. BASED ON THE LARGE NUMBERS OF HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS, BERINGIA,
AS WELL AS EUROPE AND WESTERN RUSSIA, MUST HAVE BEEN MOSTLY ONE HUGE GRASSLAND
DURING THE ICE AGE, CALLED THE MAMMOTH STEPPE OR STEPPE TUNDRA (FIGURE
2).3,34,36,37
FIGURE 3. ABILITY OF ANIMALS TO WALK THROUGH DEEP
SNOW OR TO STAY ON TOP OF CRUSTED SNOW DEPENDS ON FOOT LOADING AND CHEST
HEIGHT (AFTER GUTHRIE).
144
THE SHEEP AND WOLF COULD NOT HAVE TOLERATED DEEP SNOW OR BOGGY SUBSTRATE.
TO MAINTAIN A LARGE VARIETY OF HERBACEOUS VEGETATION ON
THE MAMMOTH STEPPE WOULD HAVE REQUIRED A LONG GROWING SEASON WITH WARM
SOIL AND RAPID SPRING GROWTH.38 THIS CONTRASTS STRONGLY TO THE CURRENT
ENVIRONMENT WHERE GREEN VEGETATION DOES NOT APPEAR IN NORTHERN SIBERIA
UNTIL MID JUNE TO EARLY JULY.39
NINETY PERCENT OF THE BIOMASS OF GRASS IS IN THE ROOTS BELOW THE SURFACE,
AND THE GRASS CANNOT GROW UNTIL THE SNOW MELTS AND THE SOIL WARMS UP.
THEREFORE, WINTERS MUST HAVE BEEN MILDER WITH LIGHT SNOWFALL. THE
GROWTH PATTERN OF THE MAMMALS REINFORCES THE DEDUCTION OF A LONGER GROWING
SEASON.34 THE SHAGGY RUFFS, HEAVY HORNS,
LONG TUSKS, AND ENORMOUS ANTLERS ARE WHAT WILDLIFE MANAGERS WOULD RECOGNISE
AS INDICATORS OF HIGH-QUALITY HABITAT WITH LIGHT COMPETITION AND
A LONG GROWING SEASON.40
OPEN RANGE WITH LIGHT SNOWFALL DURING WINTER IS ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE
EXISTENCE OF SEVERAL ANIMALS THAT ARE INTOLERANT OF DEEP SNOW, SUCH AS
THE SAIGA ANTELOPE, BIGHORN SHEEP, DALL SHEEP, AND WOLF (FIGURE 3).41
WITH MILDER WINTERS AND A LONGER GROWING SEASON OVER AN
EXTENSIVE GRASSLAND, IT IS LIKELY THAT THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT AREAS
OF PERMAFROST. THIS IS BECAUSE PERMAFROST WOULD HAVE CAUSED A BOGGY SUBSTRATE
IN SUMMER, MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR MUCH GRASS TO GROW. FURTHER PALEOECOLOGICAL
EVIDENCE FOR A LACK OF PERMAFROST COMES FROM THE EXISTENCE OF SOME ANIMALS
WITH SMALL HOOVES, SUCH AS THE SAIGA ANTELOPE. THIS ANIMAL CANNOT MANAGE
ON BOGGY SUBSTRATE. FURTHERMORE, THERE IS PLENTY OF OTHER EVIDENCE THAT
THE CLIMATE OF SIBERIA WAS ONCE MUCH WARMER, BUT AGAIN THIS EVIDENCE IS
SOMEWHAT OBSCURED BY UNIFORMITARIAN DATING AND PIGEONHOLING THE EVIDENCE
INTO SUPPOSED 'INTERGLACIAL' AND 'INTERSTADIAL'
PERIODS.42
MAMMOTH UNIFORMITARIAN PROBLEMS
HOW MILLIONS OF MAMMOTHS BECAME ENTOMBED IN SIBERIAN PERMAFROST
REALLY TAXES THE UNIFORMITARIAN PRINCIPLE. WHY WOULD MULTITUDES OF MAMMOTHS,
PLUS THE MANY OTHER ANIMALS, EVEN WANT TO LIVE IN SIBERIA WITH ITS FIERCE
WINTERS AND SUMMER BOGS? WHAT WOULD THESE LARGE BEASTS EAT? SIBERIA TODAY
SUPPORTS ONLY A VERY FEW LARGE ANIMALS, AND THESE ARE ESPECIALLY ADAPTED
TO BOGGY VEGETATION AND OFTEN MIGRATE TO ESCAPE THE FULL FORCE OF WINTER.
MOST PERPLEXING OF ALL, HOW DID THE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS DIE IN SIBERIA? WAS
IT A QUICK FREEZE? WAS MAN THE HUNTER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEMISE OF THE
MAMMOTHS?
TODAY, SIBERIA IS WELL KNOWN FOR ITS BITTERLY COLD WINTERS.
THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE IS -68°C AT VERKHOYANSK.43
LARGE MAMMALS CAN USUALLY TOLERATE A FAIR AMOUNT OF COLD. BUT COULD THE
MAMMOTHS, HORSES, BISON, AND OTHER ANIMALS TOLERATE 6 TO 9 MONTHS OF BITTER
COLD WITH EVEN COLDER WIND-CHILL TEMPERATURES IN BLIZZARDS? VERESHCHAGIN
AND BARYSHNIKOV44 STATE: 'THERE WOULD BE
NO PLACE FOR MAMMOTHS IN THE PRESENT ARCTIC TUNDRA OF EURASIA WITH ITS
DENSE SNOW DRIVEN BY THE WINDS.'
COULD THE ANIMALS HAVE LIVED IN SIBERIA TODAY DURING THE
RELATIVELY WARM SUMMER, PERHAPS MIGRATING THERE FROM THE SOUTH? THE TEMPERATURE
LIKELY WOULD HAVE BEEN PLEASANT FOR THEM, BUT THE ENVIRONMENT DEADLY.
SIBERIA TODAY IS IN THE PERMAFROST ZONE WHERE UP TO A METRE OF THE SURFACE
MELTS IN THE SUMMER. WATER POOLS ON THE SURFACE FORMING MASSIVE BOGS AND
MUSKEGS, MAKING SUMMER TRAVEL DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, FOR MAN AND
BEAST.44,45 TOLMACHOFF 46
STATES THAT A FEW INCHES OF THIS STICKY MUD MAKES THE SUBSTRATE PRACTICALLY
IMPASSABLE FOR A MAN, AND THAT A FOOT OR MORE WOULD PROBABLY TRAP A MAMMOTH.
SIBERIA MAY BE LUSH WITH VEGETATION IN THE SUMMER, BUT IT
IS THE WRONG TYPE. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE PATCHES OF GRASS, BOG AND MUSKEG
VEGETATION PREDOMINATES, AND THESE ARE LOW IN NUTRITION FOR GRAZERS.47
THE TAIGA FOREST VEGETATION SOUTH OF THE CURRENT TUNDRA IS ALSO POORLY
DIGESTIBLE FOR GRAZERS.48
COMPARING LIVING ELEPHANTS TO MAMMOTHS, THE DAILY REQUIREMENT FOR A WOOLLY
MAMMOTH WOULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT 200 TO 300 KG OF SUCCULENT VEGETATION49
AND 130-190 LITRES OF WATER! VERESHCHAGIN50
FLATLY DECLARES: 'NEITHER MAMMOTH NOR BISON COULD EXIST IN THE
SORT OF TUNDRA THAT EXISTS THERE [IN SIBERIA] TODAY.'
THE PROBLEM IS EVEN MORE PARADOXICAL IN A UNIFORMITARIAN
ICE AGE CLIMATE. ICE AGE CLIMATE SIMULATIONS ARE OF VARIABLE QUALITY,
DEPENDING UPON THE INITIAL CONDITIONS, THE APPROXIMATIONS EMPLOYED FOR
COMPLEX VARIABLES, THE PARTICULAR PHYSICS, THE NUMBER OF VARIABLES, WHETHER
THE SIMULATION IS A GENERAL CIRCULATION MODEL, ETC. NEVERTHELESS, THE
BETTER GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS DEMONSTRATE THAT THE GLACIAL CLIMATE
OF SIBERIA (ASSUMING UNIFORMITARIANISM) WOULD HAVE BEEN COLDER (ABOUT
10-20°C) THAN TODAY: 'DURING GLACIAL AND STADIAL STAGES,
THE CLIMATE OF SIBERIA WAS MUCH COLDER THAN AT PRESENT.' 51 THIS DEEPENS THE MYSTERY OF WHY THE LOWLANDS OF SIBERIA
AND ALASKA WERE NEVER GLACIATED!
EXCEPT POSSIBLY ON WRANGEL ISLAND IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN,52-54 THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH DIED
OUT IN SIBERIA AT THE END OF THE ICE AGE. FURTHERMORE, THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH
AND MANY OF THE OTHER LARGE MAMMALS, INCLUDING 33 GENERA FROM NORTH AMERICA,
DISAPPEARED ON WHOLE CONTINENTS OR WENT EXTINCT. THERE ARE TWO MAIN HYPOTHESES
TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL THIS EXTINCTION AT THE END OF THE ICE AGE: EITHER THEY
WERE KILLED BY MAN IN A GREAT BLITZKRIEG SLAUGHTER, OR THEY DIED BECAUSE
OF CLIMATE CHANGE.55 UNIFORMITARIAN SCIENTISTS DO NOT KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS,
BUT IT HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY CONTROVERSIAL FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS.
AT A RECENT MAMMOTH CONFERENCE, ALROY EXPRESSED HIS FRUSTRATION:
'AFTER MANY DECADES OF DEBATE, THE NORTH AMERICAN
END-PLEISTOCENE MEGAFAUNAL MASS EXTINCTION REMAINS A LIGHTNING ROD OF
CONTROVERSY. THE EXTRAORDINARILY DIVERGENT OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS
VOLUME SHOW THAT NO RESOLUTION IS IN SIGHT.' 56
NON-CREATIONIST HYPOTHESES
SUCH CONFOUNDING ENIGMAS, NOT ONLY ABOUT THE MAMMOTH AND
THE MAMMOTH STEPPE FAUNA, BUT ALSO ABOUT THE ICE AGE ITSELF, HAVE NATURALLY
PRODUCED MANY HYPOTHESES. EARLY SCIENTISTS PRODUCED A LOT OF CONFUSED
WRITING. FOR EXAMPLE, SIR HENRY HOWORTH,7,12
WHO GATHERED COPIOUS OBSERVATIONS FROM SIBERIAN EXPLORERS THAT ARE CONSIDERED
FAIRLY ACCURATE, BELIEVED THE MAMMOTHS MET THEIR DEMISE IN A CONTINENTAL-SCALE
FLOOD, BUT THAT THIS FLOOD WAS NOT NOAH'S FLOOD.
IMMANUEL VELIKOVSKY WROTE TWO INFLUENTIAL POPULAR BOOKS
ON ASTRAL AND EARTH CATASTROPHES, CALLED WORLDS IN COLLISION57 AND EARTH IN UPHEAVAL.58
IN THESE BOOKS THE DEMISE OF THE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS IN SIBERIA PLAYED A LEAD
ROLE. HE WEAVED THE MYSTERIES OF THE MAMMOTH, THE ICE AGE, AND
MANY OTHER PUZZLES FROM THE EARTH SCIENCES INTO A CATASTROPHIC ADVENTURE
FEATURING VENUS AND MARS, OCCURRING ABOUT 3,500 YEARS AGO. VELIKOVSKY
IS SHARP AT POINTING OUT THE MANY EARTH SCIENCE PUZZLES OF THE PAST, WHICH
A LARGE NUMBER OF SCIENTISTS SEEM TO EITHER IGNORE OR MINIMISE.
HOWEVER, HE CANNOT HELP BUT ADD AN ELEMENT OF HYPERBOLE, SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING
IN REFERRING TO THE 'MUCK' OF ALASKA:
'UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS DID THIS GREAT SLAUGHTER
TAKE PLACE, IN WHICH MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF ANIMALS WERE TORN LIMB
FROM LIMB AND MINGLED WITH UPROOTED TREES?' 59
HIS MECHANISM FOR EXPLAINING THE EXTINCTION OF THE
WOOLLY MAMMOTH, SUPPOSEDLY LIVING IN A WARM CLIMATE AND THEN SUDDENLY
BEING QUICK FROZEN, IS A CATASTROPHIC POLESHIFT TO A MORE VERTICAL EARTH
AXIS (TO WARM THE REGION UP) AND THEN BACK AGAIN TO NEAR THE PRESENT 23?
DEGREES (TO COOL IT DOWN). THE IDEA OF A QUICK FREEZE IS BASED
MAINLY ON THE PRESENCE OF FOOD IN THE MAMMOTHS' MOUTHS AND NOT ENOUGH
TIME FOR THEIR LAST MEALS TO DECAY IN THEIR STOMACHS. OTHER POPULAR
WRITERS HAVE ACCEPTED AND EMBELLISHED VELIKOVSKY'S IDEAS.60-62
CHARLES GINENTHAL63 PROVIDES AN UPDATED, MORE ELABORATE
DEFENSE OF VELIKOVSKY'S POLE SHIFT HYPOTHESIS. THERE IS ONE
MAJOR PROBLEM, AMONG MANY, WITH GINENTHAL'S AND VELIKOVSKY'S
HYPOTHESIS, AND THAT IS A POLE SHIFT TO A MORE VERTICAL AXIS WILL COOL
THE REGION, NOT WARM IT UP.
CREATIONIST HYPOTHESES
THE INFORMATION ON THE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS IN SIBERIA IS CONFUSING,
AND MOST OF IT IS PUBLISHED IN RUSSIAN. ALL THIS DATA, AND THE
MANY HYPOTHESES, WERE BOUND TO INFLUENCE CREATIONISTS, WHO ALSO HAVE BEEN
ATTEMPTING TO INTERPRET THE EVIDENCE IN A CATASTROPHIC FRAMEWORK RELATED
TO THE FLOOD. HAROLD CLARK64 RECOGNISED THAT THE EXTINCTION OF THE MAMMOTHS IN SIBERIA
WAS A MAJOR PUZZLE THAT NEEDED A CREATIONIST EXPLANATION: 'ONE
OF THE MOST PERPLEXING PHENOMENA OF GEOLOGY IS THAT OF THE SO-CALLED “FROZEN
MAMMOTHS” OF SIBERIA.'
MANY CREATIONISTS HAVE LEANED TOWARDS A FLOOD DEMISE.65-68 JOSEPH DILLOW,69
WHO WROTE AN IN-DEPTH BOOK ON THE VAPOUR CANOPY, FOCUSSED CONSIDERABLE
ATTENTION ON HOW THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH BECAME EXTINCT.70
HE PROPOSED THAT THE HAIRY BEASTS WERE QUICK-FROZEN JUST BEFORE THE FLOOD.
WALTER BROWN32 INCLUDED A CHAPTER IN HIS
HYDROPLATE MODEL ON WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS. HE PROPOSED
THAT THE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS DIED DURING THE FLOOD BY A QUICK FREEZE.
DILLOW AND BROWN MADE SEVERAL MISTAKEN DEDUCTIONS ON THE DATA RELATED
TO THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH AND ITS ENVIRONMENT IN BERINGIA, SUCH AS THAT THERE
IS OVER 1,200 M OF 'MUCK' CONTAINING ANIMAL AND VEGETATIVE
REMAINS.71,72
CLARK,64 HAROLD COFFIN,73
AND MYSELF 74 BELIEVE THAT THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH LIVED AND DIED DURING
THE ICE AGE AFTER THE FLOOD.
DID SIBERIAN MAMMOTHS DIE IN THE FLOOD?
THERE IS ABUNDANT EVIDENCE THAT THE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS IN SIBERIA,
ALASKA AND THE YUKON DIED AFTER THE FLOOD. THEY WERE TRULY DENIZENS OF
THE POST-FLOOD ICE AGE.
THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH IS PART OF AN ICE AGE MAMMOTH STEPPE
COMMUNITY THAT RANGED ACROSS THE NON-GLACIATED PORTIONS OF THE NORTHERN
HEMISPHERE (FIGURE 2).3 STRONG ARGUMENTS
FAVOUR A POST-FLOOD ORIGIN FOR THE MAMMOTH STEPPE ANIMALS OUTSIDE OF BERINGIA.
THE ANIMALS ARE FOUND IN: 1) GLACIAL TILL NEAR THE EDGE OF THE ICE SHEETS,
2) RIVER FLOOD PLAIN DEBRIS, 3) RIVER TERRACES, 4) TARPITS, 5) CAVES OR
ROCKSHELTERS, 6) LOESS, 7) SINKHOLES, AND 8) PEAT BOGS. THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED
51 PREDOMINANTLY MALE MAMMOTHS THAT ARE FOUND IN A SINK HOLE AT
