Elephants

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A piece of prehistory was uncovered in 1977. Preserved in a Siberian deep-freeze, a baby mammoth was unearthed. It was so intact that the food it had eaten 20,000 years ago was as fresh as frozen asparagus.

So what was this elephant doing up in Siberia? Aren't elephants from Africa? During the Middle Ages, after finding many large and strange bones, philosophers wondered the same thing. Thinking that those bones were giants from the biblical story of Noah and the flood, they were satisfied. (Antedelugian= before the Flood [Noah's]) Soon, though, some gears were spinning in the minds of scientists. Some archaeologists even dared to say that these "giants" were actually -gasp! - a primitive form of elephant! They proved to be right.

The story of these elephants began in swampy Northern Africa with Moerithium of the Eocene. This strange beast was comparable to a pig-sized, hippo-like creature with a flexi-snout and large incisors.

During the Oligocene, Moerithium became Phioma. This creature was larger than its ancestor had been, and it used an elongated lower jaw for uprooting plants. The trunk was still short, but its body was more similar to that of the modern elephant.

A strange new type of elephant sprang up in the Miocene. Platybelodon had a shovel-like jaw and bulldozing tusks. Another Miocene relative, Deinotherium, was 13 feet at the shoulder and had "inverted" tusks for excavating roots. Finally, during the Pliocene, Stegodon looked much like the modern African elephant and was its direct ancestor.

Climatic changes forced elephants to migrate around the world. During the Pleistocene, many variations of the generic "elephant" appeared. Pig-sized or woolly species came forth. The largest elephant ever was the woolly mammoth, standing 14 feet at the shoulder. Then, for whatever reason, whether from the extreme climate change or due to human hunting, almost all "exotic" species died out. That leaves us with the modern African and Asian elephants.

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Stegodon

A woolly mammoth

Cenozoic Era: Quaternary Period: Pleistocene Epoch: Creature Feature

Step 1	A piece of prehistory was uncovered in 1977. Preserved in a Siberian deep-freeze, a baby mammoth was unearthed. It was so intact that the food it had eaten 20,000 years ago was as fresh as frozen asparagus. So what was this elephant doing up in Siberia? Aren't elephants from Africa? During the Middle Ages, after finding many large and strange bones, philosophers wondered the same thing. Thinking that those bones were giants from the biblical story of Noah and the flood, they were satisfied. (Antedelugian= before the Flood [Noah's]) Soon, though, some gears were spinning in the minds of scientists. Some archaeologists even dared to say that these "giants" were actually -gasp! - a primitive form of elephant! They proved to be right. The story of these elephants began in swampy Northern Africa with Moerithium of the Eocene. This strange beast was comparable to a pig-sized, hippo-like creature with a flexi-snout and large incisors. During the Oligocene, Moerithium became Phioma. This creature was larger than its ancestor had been, and it used an elongated lower jaw for uprooting plants. The trunk was still short, but its body was more similar to that of the modern elephant. A strange new type of elephant sprang up in the Miocene. Platybelodon had a shovel-like jaw and bulldozing tusks. Another Miocene relative, Deinotherium, was 13 feet at the shoulder and had "inverted" tusks for excavating roots. Finally, during the Pliocene, Stegodon looked much like the modern African elephant and was its direct ancestor. Climatic changes forced elephants to migrate around the world. During the Pleistocene, many variations of the generic "elephant" appeared. Pig-sized or woolly species came forth. The largest elephant ever was the woolly mammoth, standing 14 feet at the shoulder. Then, for whatever reason, whether from the extreme climate change or due to human hunting, almost all "exotic" species died out. That leaves us with the modern African and Asian elephants.

Step 2
Step 3
Stegodon
A woolly mammoth