Visit Ivan Pavlov's column >>

IVAN PAVLOVHome Page

Add To Watchlist
Articles Posted: 75; Links Seeded: 1799
Member Since: 11/2005Last Seen: 11/25/2009

Woolly mammoths ate their own dung

advertisement

They lived in frozen wastelands with sparse food supplies, but Woolly mammoths had a dirty habit that may have helped them delay their eventual extinction – they ate their own dung.

Published to:

What's this?
Who's leading the conversation?
This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.
1.5
{"commentId":2212431,"authorDomain":"ivan"}
The researchers discovered the mammoth, a large four ton male found in Yukagir, northern Russia, had mainly eaten grass that would have been frozen beneath layers of snow and ice.
...
But the most revealing finding were spores from a fungus that only grows on dung when it has been exposed to the air, suggesting the animal had been eating dung. Further analysis revealed it must have been mammoth dung.
{"commentId":2212431,"threadId":"314503","contentId":"1672756","authorDomain":"ivan"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#1 - Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:27 AM EDT
{"canLink":false,"threadId":"314503","isPrivate":false}
Leave a Comment:
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
{"threadId":"314503","contentId":"1672756"}
Start TrackingStart Tracking
Stop TrackingStop Tracking