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Chapter 1: What did Ice Age America look like compared to Africa?
Imagine this, vast open plains stretching out as far as the eye can see. Massive herds of animals of every shape and size lumbering about, while then all around them, numerous biological killing machines lie in wait, promising death to any misfortunate victim who takes the wrong step. Now, I must be talking about the Great Plains of Africa, right?
After all, that is the only place in the world that matches its description, in a sense. But no, I'm not talking about Africa at all. Instead, a place that seems to be the exact opposite when it comes to nature. America. Yes, the same America where over 90% of its life is either people or animals we domesticated for our own benefit.
The same America where in many areas, the only large animal you'll find is going to be a mutant rat. Looking at you, New York. So no doubt, the current state of the country is a far cry from the nature you see in the savannas of Africa. However, that being said, not so long ago it was a different story, as prehistoric America was eerily a lot like Africa, but except on steroids.
Now, given the oppressive heat and dryness that often goes hand in hand with the African savannas, it'd be logical to think that I'm talking about a version of America which was much hotter than now. Yet, ironically, I'm not, as in reality, this form of the US took place when it was just about at its coldest point. In other words, the Ice Age.
And I'm not talking about any old time in the Ice Age either, seeing that technically we are still in it. Instead, it's the time that it was arguably the most Africa-like.
which was during the last glacial maximum, between 26 and 20,000 years ago, which then adds another level of irony, as this point also presents the coldest phase of the entire ice age, when temperatures averaged a chilly 46 degrees Fahrenheit or 7.7 degrees Celsius worldwide, while then the planet's ice sheets had also expanded to their maximum point, covering 25% of the entire planet's land.
And obviously, this included large areas of contiguous America as well, with ice sheets coming down as far as Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio, while states like New England, New York, and Vermont were completely covered by ice. In fact, if New York City was transported back to then, not even the One World Trade Center would stick out from the ice. That's how much there was.
But remarkably, despite the fact that the ice was taller than skyscrapers in New York, the vast majority of America was ultimately untouched by the sheets, yet were impacted by the Ice Age in a different way. Because while the land remained exposed, everything was obviously much colder and drier than the present, resulting in a landscape completely foreign compared to now.
For starters, the combination of cold and dry led to there being far fewer trees, as the shift in climate forced them to migrate, so to speak, being more prevalent in the south, while then many forests were also wiped out, allowing for grasses and short plants to dominate in their absence.
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Chapter 2: How did the climate during the Ice Age affect vegetation in America?
I mean, if you so much as see an image of an African elephant, you immediately can picture the savannas. However, as we all know, it's not just the largest animals around that create the magic. As in Africa, you cannot forget the other iconic herbivores like rhinos, giraffes, or zebras. In other words, those diverse large ungulates, or hoofed animals, that pepper the lands.
And similarly, in Ice Age America, you also had a bunch of megafaunal hoofed animals that grazed and added their own, spice. Now, part of this includes kinds of animals that you can still see in the Great Plains, such as a trove of cervidae, which are also known as the true deers, and includes moose and elk.
But compared to now, the diversity of this group back then was far, far higher, with not only multiple species being found in singular environments, but also much larger species.
And this included the stag moose, a moose-sized deer with an elk's head, and the American mountain deer, which on the outside looked a lot like any old white-tailed deer, but it was much bigger, being more than double the size. And sure, deer are kinda to be expected in the US, but another group that might be a surprise to find here was the Equidae.
Just like Africa and the zebras, Ice Age America had their own equine too, which might sound a bit impossible at first, as you may have heard the story of Europeans introducing the Native Americans to horses. And while that is correct, it is a bit ironic as well, as it was in North America that the horse family first evolved, almost 55.8 million years ago at that.
And though they would eventually die out towards the end of the Pleistocene, they were still kicking for now, pun intended, and quite powerfully so to speak at that, as at least five different species resided in the area, including the Yukon horse and the Hagerman's horse, also known as America's zebra, as it too had an array of distinct stripes along its body.
And crazy enough, researchers have also found horse teeth in the area that are even larger than those seen in the biggest draft horses, who themselves are already the biggest horse in the world. Meaning that Ice Age America was potentially home to an extinct giant horse that was the largest to ever live, and might have routinely weighed up to an estimated 1.5 tons.
In other words, a horse that outweighed most giraffes, and by a fair margin of that. And so, a big horse like that would have been quite the sight, and obviously a tough cookie to bring down. I mean, imagine being kicked by one of those.
And yet, at the same time, I'd argue that when it came to toughness, it was still bested by another group, one who would continue to exist in the area up until today, with no interruption. And that would be the Bovine.
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