Ice Age Mammoth Footprints Show How Juveniles Took Care Of The Elderly In Ancient Times

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As explained in a report from the Daily Mail, a team of researchers from the University of Oregon examined a total of 117 mammoth prints dating back to approximately 43,000 years ago, with these fossilized footprints first spotted in 2014, and excavated some time later. In 2017, the Oregon Bureau of Land Management gave study lead author and University of Oregon professor Greg Retallack and his colleagues permission to return to the area. This was when the researchers’ interest was piqued by a collection of about 20 Ice Age mammoth footprints that hinted at some interesting behavior from the prehistoric elephants.

After analyzing the footprints, the researchers concluded that they might have belonged to Columbian mammoths that were, during those times, quite plentiful in certain parts of the present-day United States. A look at the 20 recently spotted footprints suggested that some of the prints came from a wounded, possibly elderly mammoth, with the other prints coming from younger mammoths.

“These prints were especially close together, and those on the right were more deeply impressed than those on the left, as if an adult mammoth had been limping,” explained Retallack.