Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

The story of what we've understood about mammoths is very similar to, as you say, the human story, where the idea of a single lineage, which I'm afraid a lot of people may still have in their mind that that's how evolution works. It is more like a branching bush. With, you know, less successful species dying out, you know, so they only get like halfway up the bush and then others arise.

And then, you know, you end up with the most strongly adapted species kind of at the top.

And then, you know, you end up with the most strongly adapted species kind of at the top.

And then, you know, you end up with the most strongly adapted species kind of at the top.

Well, it was the one that was the best adapted to the Ice Age environments. As the Ice Age environments, which saw much of the Northern Hemisphere cold, obviously, also forests gave way to grasslands.

Well, it was the one that was the best adapted to the Ice Age environments. As the Ice Age environments, which saw much of the Northern Hemisphere cold, obviously, also forests gave way to grasslands.

Well, it was the one that was the best adapted to the Ice Age environments. As the Ice Age environments, which saw much of the Northern Hemisphere cold, obviously, also forests gave way to grasslands.

And so the earlier mammoth species that were adapted more to living in forests and eating that kind of vegetation got restricted in their distribution to small areas and then eventually died out, while the mammoth species you know, became, had to become adapted to this different kind of environment.

And so the earlier mammoth species that were adapted more to living in forests and eating that kind of vegetation got restricted in their distribution to small areas and then eventually died out, while the mammoth species you know, became, had to become adapted to this different kind of environment.

And so the earlier mammoth species that were adapted more to living in forests and eating that kind of vegetation got restricted in their distribution to small areas and then eventually died out, while the mammoth species you know, became, had to become adapted to this different kind of environment.

So we would tend not to say that one is like better than the other, but it, you know, it's the survivor of the fittest thing. It means it fits that environment, you know, and that's why it survived and the other species died out.

So we would tend not to say that one is like better than the other, but it, you know, it's the survivor of the fittest thing. It means it fits that environment, you know, and that's why it survived and the other species died out.

So we would tend not to say that one is like better than the other, but it, you know, it's the survivor of the fittest thing. It means it fits that environment, you know, and that's why it survived and the other species died out.

Yeah, I think it's quite useful to compare the woolly mammoth with a living elephant because we know what an elephant looks like. We know that it's adapted to a tropical environment. And the early mammoths were adapted to that environment as well. So if we take the tail, for instance, the living elephant has a very long tail.

Yeah, I think it's quite useful to compare the woolly mammoth with a living elephant because we know what an elephant looks like. We know that it's adapted to a tropical environment. And the early mammoths were adapted to that environment as well. So if we take the tail, for instance, the living elephant has a very long tail.

Yeah, I think it's quite useful to compare the woolly mammoth with a living elephant because we know what an elephant looks like. We know that it's adapted to a tropical environment. And the early mammoths were adapted to that environment as well. So if we take the tail, for instance, the living elephant has a very long tail.

It comes all the way down to sort of ankle with hairs at the end, which it uses as a kind of fly swat. The woolly mammoth had a much shorter tail. And I think the reason for that is avoiding frostbite.

It comes all the way down to sort of ankle with hairs at the end, which it uses as a kind of fly swat. The woolly mammoth had a much shorter tail. And I think the reason for that is avoiding frostbite.

It comes all the way down to sort of ankle with hairs at the end, which it uses as a kind of fly swat. The woolly mammoth had a much shorter tail. And I think the reason for that is avoiding frostbite.

You've got a very sort of thin organ like that hanging loose out of the back end of your body in a very cold environment where it would have been way below freezing in the winter, you know, different from anything that a living elephant in its natural habitat would encounter. then, you know, you've got to protect it from frostbite.