Recent find shows more assumptions than certitude

MSNBC via Reuters reveals that the remains of yet another baby mammoth are being studied in Russia. So far they have done the typical medical scans that scientists do for ancient creatures/humans in order to better understand the inner organs of the animal. They are also decoding its genome.

This really is a fascinating study, with scientists invoking visions of “Jurassic Park.” While they do not specifically reference the movie, they are discussing the idea of resurrecting some now extinct gigantic ancient birds from New Zealand or Madagascar (such as the Moa, and a species of enormous “Lord of the Rings” size eagles).

For the purposes of comparing homologous features, I have included a link to the MSNBC article on the mammoth, as well as a link to a news story about an African elephant that was born just last year at the Louisville zoo. Each article has photographs enabling you to compare the specimens for yourself.

In examining the photos, I’d like to call your attention to some features that can be seen in the prehistoric mammoth.

First of all, it must be pointed out that the mammoth has been damaged. Predators or onsite conditions seem to have destroyed the ear and the tail which are both mostly missing.

Essentially the mammoth (because it was of the woolly variety) would have had hair. But conditions apparently rendered the hair so fragile that it had simply fallen out, decomposed, etc.

Scientists have concluded that the cause of death was drowning. However, there is still some debate as to whether this is true or not. It is my understanding, that in studies of mammoths discovered all over Russia and even in Alaska, most have died with a single common denominator; they had silt in their systems. Silt is certainly different from “wind-blown” material, but it is questionable whether silt would appear different from wind-blown material in a find like this.

In addition to the linked African elephant photos in this post, I have also seen newspaper photos of the same elephant. When you compare these photos with the photos of the prehistoric mammoth, you find that they appear to be nearly identical. Granted, it seems that the prehistoric elephant’s ears were probably smaller (judging from point of attachment), making it similar to the Asian variety of elephant. This makes total sense, since Asian elephants are closer geographically to where this latest find was discovered.

Of course, missing from the modern elephant is the woolly hair. The point of the matter, is that these creatures sans the hair in the modern version and aside from the probable Asian/African difference show that forms even over thousands of years do not necessarily change that much. This is not an indication of a “higher form of life” as evolutionary theory predicts. When we witness the progression from an ancient “elephant” type to the modern one, there is a loss of genetic information, indicating “DE-EVOLUTION,” degradation.

In the meantime, we may not be able to bring back the dinosaur (we just don’t have enough genetic material or a modern host “mother” to artificially do so) but please, scientists, do try to bring back those “Lord of the Rings” size eagles and the moa!

By: Chris of themuseandthescribe.com

Sources:

1.. “Baby Mammoth Reveals Ancient Secrets,” Reuters, April 10, 2008, by Dmitry Solovyov.

2. “ Louisville Zoo Makes History with Successful Elephant Birth,” Wave 3 TV News, March 26, 2007.