Woolly Mammoth’s Diet Was Mostly Tiny Flowers

The Mystery of Woolly Mammoth’s Diet Solved

For years, the diet of the Woolly Mammoth have eluded scientists around the world. What could this massive beast survive on? Scientists were able to study pollen levels during the Woolly Mammoth’s era years ago. They concluded that there was not much vegetation, which indicated that the Mammoth’s food choices were slim. This left scientists scratching their heads on what the Mammoths survived on.

Recently, a team of scientists from Denmark, finally answered the question. Woolly Mammoths survived on plants called forbs. This largely changes the viewpoint of how the scientific community saw the Ice Age’s landscape.

It is believed that the landscape lacked the lush vegetation that we experience today. While this still holds true, the landscape was recently discovered to be vegetated with forbs. Forbs are small flowering plants and herbs. Today you could compare them to the small flowers we see on mountains around the world.

Using the plants’ DNA, that was preserved in permafrost, the scientific team was able to compare them to plants we have today. While there was not a perfect match, they were able to determine what plant family the ancient plants came from. The forbs were able to nutritionally support the Woolly Mammoth until the environment changed. As Forbs died out and were replaced by grass, the Mammoths died out as well.

On The Web:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/woolly-mammoth-diet-mystery-solved-by-dna-analysis-1.2524015