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Ice Age Death Trap
PBS ^
| Aired February 1, 2012
| NOVA / WGBH
Posted on 03/18/2012 10:06:11 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Scientists race to uncover a site in the Rockies packed with fossil mammoths and other extinct ice age beasts... In the Rocky Mountains, archeologists uncover a unique fossil site packed with astonishingly well-preserved bones of mammoths, mastodons, and other giant extinct beasts. The discovery opens a highly focused window on the vanished world of the Ice Age in North America... They're finding thousands of bones of many different types, but most of them are mastodon, ancient elephants. In the depths of the Ice Age, entire families of these mighty beasts came down to this ancient lake to graze. And their bones reveal tantalizing clues that, very suddenly, something may have wiped them out... Furry and chunkier than its mammoth cousins, the mastodon was built to fight. Averaging five tons, it was about the size of today's African elephant, but more robustly built. The giant Bison latifrons also flourished in the warmth. At two tons, this one was twice as big as today's bison, with up to eight-foot headgear. One top predator of these warm-weather animals was Smilodon, the saber-toothed cat. About six feet long and 600 pounds, Smilodon used its bulk to subdue prey, not its teeth. Only when the prey was down would it sink its enormous fangs into a victim's windpipe and jugular.
(Excerpt) Read more at pbs.org ...
TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs
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1
posted on
03/18/2012 10:06:18 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
To: Renfield; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
2
posted on
03/18/2012 10:09:01 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him)
To: SunkenCiv
Archaeologists dig up manmade objects. Paleontologists dig up prehistoric life/fossils (including Helen Thomas). (Been both).
THere is a difference. And our tax dollars pay the people at NOVA to write this stupidity?
To: SunkenCiv
GAWD. A link to PBS!
I feel dirty.....
4
posted on
03/18/2012 10:25:24 PM PDT
by
misanthrope
("...Everybody look what's goin' down.")
To: SunkenCiv
5
posted on
03/18/2012 10:29:11 PM PDT
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas gerit ;-{)
To: SunkenCiv
6
posted on
03/18/2012 10:29:59 PM PDT
by
tumblindice
(our new, happy lives)
To: SunkenCiv
Question: what does a 600 pound Kitteh eat?
Answer: What ever he wants.
7
posted on
03/18/2012 10:46:49 PM PDT
by
garjog
To: SunkenCiv
Did they find their SUVs too?
8
posted on
03/18/2012 11:07:35 PM PDT
by
VeniVidiVici
(Democrats love direct democracy until it's time to vote on something. Then they scream for a judge)
To: misanthrope
I just watched it. Damn interesting.
o\One possible explanation that was never touched on for the huge deposits of mastodon bones was them being deposited there by a huge flood released by a glacial ice dam breach. I never see this discussed.
9
posted on
03/18/2012 11:22:41 PM PDT
by
misanthrope
("...Everybody look what's goin' down.")
To: JoeProBono
10
posted on
03/18/2012 11:41:03 PM PDT
by
ETL
(ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
To: SunkenCiv
11
posted on
03/18/2012 11:55:35 PM PDT
by
bkopto
(Obama is merely a symptom of a more profound, systemic disease in American body politic.)
To: SunkenCiv
The theory is Kennewick Man dates back up to 50,000 years.
12
posted on
03/19/2012 12:34:35 AM PDT
by
Steve Van Doorn
(*in my best Eric Cartman voice* 'I love you, guys')
To: Steve Van Doorn
Pasco Man and Richland Man feel left out.
13
posted on
03/19/2012 1:39:47 AM PDT
by
JohnnyP
To: MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
If you read the transcript, one of the theories is that some of the dead animals were killed and cached by people.
Which would make their bones man-made objects.
To: SunkenCiv
"In the depths of the Ice Age, entire families of these mighty beasts came down to this ancient lake to graze"They starved to death or drowned because they tried to graze on a lake. PBS has such careful writers.
15
posted on
03/19/2012 2:33:34 AM PDT
by
muir_redwoods
(No wonder this administration favors abortion; everything they have done is an abortion)
To: muir_redwoods
My theory would be one that I've actually witnessed many times here on the ranch and no time was it worse than last year. We lost just over 60 head of cattle probably over 100 deer that got stuck in the mud around 3 ponds that were drying up due to the severe drought last year. As they dry up the cows turn the outside of the ponds into muddy death traps from 3 to 3 1/2 ft deep as they keep going out to reach water. Coyotes and bobcats also get caught in these traps in their effort to reach the carcases stuck in the mud. One of the ponds has since dried up and bottom is littered with bones from those that died. The next heavy rains will fill the ponds back up but the mud and silt coming with it will cover the bones.
To: Dusty Road
One other thing that I’ve noticed is sick or dying animals nearly always go to water, another example I see here on the ranch.
To: Dusty Road
18
posted on
03/19/2012 5:01:14 AM PDT
by
BwanaNdege
(Man has often lost his way, but modern man has lost his address - Gilbert K. Chesterton)
To: misanthrope
I didn’t read the article;-), just the excerpt, and from that, imagined that your scenario would be surmised in the article.
19
posted on
03/19/2012 5:21:17 AM PDT
by
stayathomemom
(Beware of kittens modifying your posts.)
To: JohnnyP
funny how they name things. They should pick one name to make it less confusing
20
posted on
03/19/2012 12:54:07 PM PDT
by
Steve Van Doorn
(*in my best Eric Cartman voice* 'I love you, guys')
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