| Summary: | [Extract] The woolly mammoth vanished just after the last Ice Age but may be the best-understood prehistoric species because their massive size and demise in a geographic freezer made for near-perfect fossilization. Indeed, the fossil record has illuminated much of what we know of this animal regarding anatomical adaptations to the cold, e.g. minimizing heat loss with thick fur, thick oily skin, blubber, and small ears and tail. Interestingly, scientists have also determined that the woolly mammoth descended directly from Asian elephants that originated in tropical Africa 5–7 million years ago. What kind of evolutionary adaptations allowed a massive tropical elephant that is excellent at eliminating excess heat to move into and survive the frigid Arctic? Until recently, none of the fossilized evidence could be connected to how this animal once functioned because physiological and biochemical characteristics do not fossilize.
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