#megafauna

Go, my potato

This is a discussion going on on Twitter, too, the last few days: there was a thing where an Iditarod musher shot a moose to protect their team, and a lot of people are confused as to why that needed to happen. Apparently this moose had been hanging around the course for quite a while and was becoming quite dangerous to the sled dog teams. Moose are territorial and not to be fucked with. Everyone from Alaska or areas with moose are like "yup, that's just reality."

Same thing with the bison birth I watched last year. Folk really thought the staff should be in the habitat on the ground with the bison herd, helping with the birth. Sure, that's what we do with cows if we have to, but... bison are definitely not cows and, again, will squish you.

People tend to get it more with the predators. Few people will argue that a cougar or an alligator or a bear isn't dangerous. I think people kinda go both ways on wild pigs / boars depending on their experience. But herbivores or things that don't look traditionally pointy... it just kinda doesn't click.

Painting from Chauvet Cave in the Gorges de l'Ardèche, France, depicting a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis). This species, which roamed the steppes of northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene, was distinguished by its cold-adapted wool coat, noticeable hump, and massive frontal horn (as seen here).

This Fossil Friday, behold the Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus). It was originally discovered in bog deposits in Ireland. It was one of the largest known species of deer, weighing up to 1,500 lbs (680 kg). Its antlers, which could reach an incredible 13-ft- (4-m-) spread, were used in ritualized combat between males. Once ranging from western Europe to China, this animal died out some 10,000 years ago. However, at least one population, living in the Ural Mountains, managed to survive until about 7,770 years ago, long after the end of the Pleistocene. See this prehistoric animal and more at the Museum! Plan your visit.

"Eating a Dead Horse" Argentavis/Barbourofelis/Protohippus Neogene, 7 million years ago, Ambelodon Quarry She was blown off course by a strong wind a few days back, and made it across to North America. Hungry and a bit confused, she immediately looked for a food source. A rodent, lagomorph, maybe even a small ungulate would do, but the first thing her senses picked up was a dead Protohippus killed by three Babourofelis. They were formidable predators, for sure. Saber teeth and a family group would make them a force to be reckoned with. But they hadn't ever encountered the argent bird. A body less than two meters tall suddenly became six times larger in the flash of a second. Blood rushed into the monster's face, neon rays crowned its head, and it shrieked like nothing they had ever heard before. Ten seconds was all it took for them to run.