Survival Guide: Ice Age Edition
Let us take you back in time…
To a world covered in snow and ice; a harsh landscape ruled by extraordinary creatures big and small, who had to adapt to survive during glacial phases of the Pleistocene. Whether looking at the enormous woolly mammoth, with its thick insulating blankets of fur, or the much smaller alpine marmot, who hid underground in burrows in order to escape the bitterly cold phases, this short film explores how these two very contrasting animals adapted to survive during the Ice Age and what became of them thereafter.
This film is created by The Polar Ponderers Team: an intrepid polar-exploring group of University of Galway students for the final year course History of Life (@historyoflife7343 ):
The Polar Ponderers team:
Ina Ross: Research, screenwriter
Samantha Beasant: Illustrations, narrator
Thomas Leavy: Screenwriter, animator
Matthew Harley: Animation and editing
Eamon Meenan: Storyboard, animator
Big shout out and gratitude is owed to John Murray: History of Life module coordinator, for his continuous supply of wisdom, ideas and help in the creation of this film.
With the exception of the drawings of the mammoth and the marmots, this film, its visuals and sound effects were created using Canva, using copyright free visuals and sounds.
Want to learn more, or are curious how this information was found? Info sources below:
Boeskorov, G.G., Mashchenko, E.N., Plotnikov, V.V. et al. (2016) Adaptation of the woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach, 1799) to habitat conditions in the glacial period. Contemporary Problems of Ecology, 9(5), 544–553. https://doi.org/10.1134/S199542551605...
Gossmann, T.I., Shanmugasundram, A., Börno, S. et al. (2019) Ice-Age Climate Adaptations Trap the Alpine Marmot in a State of Low Genetic Diversity. Current Biology, 29(10), 1712-1720.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.04...
Kahlke, R.-D. (2015) The maximum geographic extension of Late Pleistocene Mammuthus primigenius (Proboscidea, Mammalia) and its limiting factors. Quaternary International, 379, 147–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015...
Smithsonian Article on a preserved baby woolly mammoth: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...
Scientific Research Website: https://www.scirp.org/html/5-8301993_....
Animalia Website:
https://animalia.bio/alpine-marmot?cu...
Keywords/ Tags:
Woolly mammoth alpine marmot ice age pleistocene time adaptations cold harsh climate glacial glaciation survival guide ice-age history extinct extinction evolution evolving hunting burrow tusks fur hibernating megafauna