Watch out for Mammoths!  Most of you have heard about dinosaurs. But what other animals lived in prehistoric times? If you like stories about dinosaurs, you'll probably want to learn about the other titans of their age -- mammoths and mastodons, these unusual ancestors of modern mammals. Yes, they look like elephants but are they from the same family?
To find out we have to study these animals. One way is to examine their remains, mostly bones.We'll never really know what dinosaurs Picture by David Quednau © The Field Museum looked like or how they lived. Dinosaurs fossils re relatively rare, and fossil hunters almost never find skin or flesh with the bones. In addition modern reptiles are so different from their extinct relatives that it's hard to make comparisons. However, the story with mammoths is different. Their remains are plentiful, and frozen remains often include skin, hair, and internal organs. And there is more -- the mammoths are very closely related to their surviving relatives-the elephants. That help scientists to faithfully reconstruct their appearance and their life history. Did you know that:
Complete the task of this webquest, step by step, and you'll find out the answers! The picture on the top of this page was presented at "Mammoths and Mastodons Titans of the Ice- Age" exhibit in the Field museum in Chicago. It raises the old theories of possible cloning of the mammoth. Exciting, isn't it? Let's see what the scientists think about this! Are you ready? Go to the task page to begin your quest. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* WebQuest Project by Zornitza Komanova-Shipochka Last updated April 26th, 2010 |