Royal British Columbia Museum (Part 2)

Woolly mammoths were the subject of a second exhibit at the Royal British Columbia Museum when we visited.  The entire exhibit was quite educational with one rather unique and rare display that most likely is a one-of-a-kind in the world…

Wooly mammoths once roamed in great numbers across Europe, northern Asia, and North America.  Scientists of today observe elephants to better understand the likely behaviors and lifecycles of mammoths.  Finding nearly intact mammoths in the permafrost of Siberia gives scientists fossil bones, tissue remains and DNA to study.  From this they attempt to answer questions about what their life was like, how young were raised and nurtured, and who might have comprised their “family”.

According to the scientists, mammoths migrated out of Africa and into Eurasia.  As they extended their range (about three million years ago,) various groups became isolated from each other.  In the process these evolved into new species as they adapted to different environments.  One of these new species became the “woolly mammoth” which inhabited the far northern grassland “steppes” (large areas of land with grass and few trees) of Siberia, and the woodlands just to the south of those steppes which included open meadows.  

Lyuba

A female woolly mammoth, about one month old, died in Siberia about 42,000 years ago.  Found and studied by scientists, she was named Lyuba (the Russian word for “love”) and is the most complete mammoth specimen ever found.  She apparently wandered into a mud pit from which she could not escape and when she became buried in it, her body was preserved.  Even her mother’s milk was found in her stomach. 

A mammoth molar

Mammoth bone hut

Interestingly, Paleolithic people of eastern Europe constructed homes from bones they collected of long-dead mammoths.   They used skulls, jaws and other large bones to build a foundation.  Then walls were constructed of leg bones and tusks framed an entrance.  A roof was added made of hides.  In the steppes, these bones were a substitute construction material adopted due to the lack of trees.  One to five bone-huts would comprise a camp made from the bones of many different mammoths.

A Columbian Mammoth towers above Jim

Even the bears were gigantic!

One of the reasons we wanted to return to Victoria right before Christmas was the opportunity to see this exhibit before it ended on December 31st.  Now we can only wonder what other great exhibit will arrive to replace it for our return trip in the spring to see the tulips and daffodils at Butchart Gardens.  We will let you know what we find at this fabulous museum the next time around!