Hairy (or perhaps Woolly)

 

I'm back with another entry for Jo from Let’s Art Journal.  Her theme at Art Journal Journey is Wonderfully Wild and she is our host this month.  

This is all about the extinct Hairy (also known as Woolly) Mammoth.  It lived here and in Russia as recently as 10,000 years ago.  It was a plant eater, like all mammoths.  The age of these animals can be determined from the rings in their tusks, the same as calculating the age of a tree from the rings in the trunk.

I have a few detail shots below.

It is believed that these creatures lived in family herds.  They would migrate between food sources throughout the year.  They used their trunk and tusks to forage, fight against enemies, or manipulate objects.  They were covered in a thick coat of brown hair to keep them warm on the frigid Arctic plains. They even had fur-lined ears.

 

Hairy Mammoths were herbivores and would primarily feed on grass and plants.  They used their tusks and trunks to forage for shrubs, grasses, roots and other small plants from under the snow.

 

According to Discovery Magazine:

When the tusk and the remains of two related juvenile mammoths were excavated in 2009, they appeared alongside evidence of campfires, the use of stone tools, and butchered remains of other game. The discovery of this evidence “indicates a pattern consistent with human hunting of mammoths,” noted archaeologist and UAF anthropology professor Ben Potter in a press release.

Again, according to Discovery Magazine: 

The exact time of woolly mammoths’ disappearance continues to be discussed. They were commonly thought to have faced extinction upwards of 10,000 years ago, but some of the last remaining populations survived well into the Holocene — the current geological epoch that spans the last 11,700 years. A changing environment forced the mammoths to move to isolated places like Wrangel Island in Siberia and St. Paul Island in Alaska.

Despite multiple attempts to resurrect woolly mammoths, the ancient animal species currently remains very much extinct. Their last known population, a group isolated by rising sea levels on Wrangel Island off the Siberian coast, managed to survive 6,000 years before finally disappearing roughly 10,000 years ago. But unlike the dinosaurs, what specifically caused the Wrangel mammoths to ultimately die out still remains a mystery.

 

I began by adhering a sheet of mottled brown scrapbook paper to a sheet of 8.5 X 11 in (21.59 X 27.94 cm) 110 lb cardstock.  I outlined each item using a gold leaf pen.  I found all the information above in a container on the Hairy Mammoth.  Although there was a great deal more information, including information on other extinct animals, I chose the Hairy Mammoth as my wonderfully wild choice for this entry.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Bleubeard and I are thankful for your visit.