Bbout 30 000 years ago, right here where you were standing, huge Colombian mammoths roamed.
They were as tall as 14 feet high and weighed up to 20 000 pounds. This low flat coastal plain was
clothed in parkland vegetation: a rich mosaic of grasses herbaceous plants shrubs and trees.
Mammoths of this size needed lots of food and water spending most of every day ranging far
distances to fuel their great bulk. They relied on their exceptional sense of smell to find food.
Here on the coastal plain the mammoths could catch only occasional whiffs of vegetation
since it was already heavily grazed by themselves and by other animals.
However turning toward the ocean the hungry mammals could smell something quite different.
Here the consistent onshore winds carried the aroma of abundant grasses and shrubs
from the huge mountainous island of Santa Rosae. It was so alluringly close to them.
A mere four to five miles across the sea. It was an easy decision and an easy swim to the island.
No land dwelling mammals are better suited to water than members of the elephant family, with
their long snorkel-like trunks and their buoyant mass that can shed the effects of their ponderous
pounds. They move so gracefully in the ocean. Once on the island the population of mammoths increased
in numbers and eventually the food supply became scarce there too and over time the thick glaciers
and ice sheets that covered Canada and Northern Asia began to melt. The level of the sea gradually
rose stranding the mammoths and flooding the lowlands of the island. The island decreased in
size and eventually was split into four separate islands, the ones we know today. With this decrease
in island size the food supply was ever more limited, especially in times of seasonal shortage.
The smaller mammoths that could survive with less food were at an advantage. The absence of
predators on the islands also contributed to the downsizing since large size was no
longer needed for predator avoidance and defense. Thus, natural selection favored smaller mammoths.
Within twenty thousand years most stood only five to six feet at the shoulder,
less than half the height of their mainland ancestors.
These small mammoths became a new species: the Channel Island's pygmy mammoth. The replica
bones that lie before you are the remains of one of these pygmy mammoths. It roamed the
islands feeding on prehistoric grasses, sharing the space with flightless geese and tiny island foxes.
Then about 12,800 years ago along the northern coast of what we now call Santa Rosa island
this 5- year-old arthritic male came to the end of his journey. He lay down on his left side and died.
The island winds quickly buried his body with sand, his skin still intact.
The demise of the rest of the pygmy mammoths would follow. In fact most
of the world's large mammals disappeared from earth about ten thousand years ago.
What caused the extinction of all these large animals is still uncertain.
In 1994 a clue to this mysterious past was discovered.
Over time erosion exposed this ancient animal to the eyes of the modern world.
Twelve thousand years after the pygmy's death its fully articulated skeleton
whose replica bones lie before you was discovered and excavated revealing the world's most complete
pygmy mammoth skeleton ever found. You can now discover the pygmy mammoth's past on your own as you
explore this interactive cd-rom. Learn intriguing stories of mammoth origins: how they lived,
why they became extinct, the discovery of mammoth fossils,
the history of humans and mammoths and the importance of the Channel Islands and ongoing
preservation efforts. There you may even find out the answer to the long debated question:
Why did the mammoth cross the channel? so click on an icon and take your own journey of discovery.