Interesting Development

[Zen Badger]

There had been numerous advances and retreats of the ice and the mammoth managed to survive them quite nicely, though.

True, but nothing lasts for ever.

But I will admit that it is just speculation on my part.

[KichigaiNeko]

Yeah but we all know that chieftan asshole who wants what no one else can get without sheer manpower. I bet he wore the ivory as a necklace.

Why should that be a problem? It was probably a token to his part in the hunt. After all; a mammoth WAS a very large creature for puny little man things to bring down. And the Ivory did not go to waste...witness the many artefacts that have survived from that period.

It was a different world then missL. Don't try to project humanity's current ideologies onto it.

[Mystical]

Hey, if I lived back then I'd still be cryin for that mammoth I'd eat the meat, but I'd be sad. Just like I am for chickens (I prefer not to eat cows because they have more emotional evolutionary processes). I'd be sad back then too if all they killed such a massive wondrous creature for, was its ivory tusks. I know the people probably salvaged as much as they could, but in the end, that animal probably went down solely because some man thought it would make a good fashion statement. Just cuz ivory carvings survived doesn''t mean I'm happy they exist in the first place. I think humans should respect other animals on this planet with reverence.

[Silver]

The more logical explanation is that the mammoth died out when the ice age for which they had evolved to survive in ended.

Are elephants not evolved from mammoths? Thus, they did not die out entirely. They merely evolved yet again once the ice age ended.

[KichigaiNeko]

Hey, if I lived back then I'd still be cryin for that mammoth I'd eat the meat, but I'd be sad. Just like I am for chickens (I prefer not to eat cows because they have more emotional evolutionary processes). I'd be sad back then too if all they killed such a massive wondrous creature for, was its ivory tusks. I know the people probably salvaged as much as they could, but in the end, that animal probably went down solely because some man thought it would make a good fashion statement. Just cuz ivory carvings survived doesn''t mean I'm happy they exist in the first place. I think humans should respect other animals on this planet with reverence.

That's the funniest thing, those peoples DID respect the environment and everything in it (witness the hunting cultures still alive today from the varying native peoples of the globe) That is one thing environmentalists can't seem to grasp. Humans ARE part of the environment and wherever humans and animals went they Collectively changed the environment.

I am glad the ivory survived... many are exquisite pieces wrought from many man hours of labour utilising very basic tools. They are really beautiful and show the reverence of the animal that they were taken from as many are for religious purposes. This is why many current religions have ivory statues and icons wrought from the stuff.

[FlyingNarwhal]

Hey, if I lived back then I'd still be cryin for that mammoth I'd eat the meat, but I'd be sad. Just like I am for chickens (I prefer not to eat cows because they have more emotional evolutionary processes). I'd be sad back then too if all they killed such a massive wondrous creature for, was its ivory tusks. I know the people probably salvaged as much as they could, but in the end, that animal probably went down solely because some man thought it would make a good fashion statement. Just cuz ivory carvings survived doesn''t mean I'm happy they exist in the first place. I think humans should respect other animals on this planet with reverence.

Eh, screw em. In the game of evolution, we won. Lets take some DNA samples so we can recreate species in the future and wipe the ones we don't need/want off the planet.

[KichigaiNeko]

Have you read any of Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series missL?

They are very good and are well researched. Admittedly they ARE fiction, but for someone like me who is moderately interested in Palaeontology/ Archeology they are a fascinating read.

[Minimalist]

There had been numerous advances and retreats of the ice and the mammoth managed to survive them quite nicely, though.

True, but nothing lasts for ever.

But I will admit that it is just speculation on my part.

Honestly, Z/B, I think people tend to fixate on "the" cause of something rather than "causes." So mammoth survived earlier ice advances and retreats but this time there WERE human hunters added into the mix who were also dealing with a changing climate. Add in Firestone's comet theory (which is being hotly disputed but is still in the mix) and you can get a cascade of events which could bring out mass extinction to populations which were already under stress.

[CapnAwesome]

I've long thought that human hunting was probably not the main cause of mammoth extinction simply because every time I look at an elephant in real life the idea of me and a group of men taking them down with primitive spears would be extremely difficult. Consider how much easier it must have been to hunt other animals.

[Cato]

The more logical explanation is that the mammoth died out when the ice age for which they had evolved to survive in ended.

Are elephants not evolved from mammoths? Thus, they did not die out entirely. They merely evolved yet again once the ice age ended.

Common ancestor.