Page 196 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)
P. 196
This North American bison The body of the northern
was bigger than any modern species of Elasmotherium
bison and its horns reached was covered in thick hair
7 ft (2.1 m) from tip to tip. Bison latifrons for insulation.
The legs of this animal
were longer than those
of modern rhinos,
suggesting it may have
Female mammoth
been quicker on its feet.
Massive bones supported
the mammoth’s weight, which
was similar to that of an
African elephant. Juvenile male mammoth
Juvenile mammoths may
have stayed close to their
parents until they could
fend for themselves.
The foot bones rested on pads
of tough, spongy tissue that acted
as shock absorbers.
One of the biggest ice-age giants was that lived alongside the woolly mammoth
Deinotherium, a huge elephant relative with in the colder parts of northern Europe and
down-curved tusks in its lower jaw. It appeared Asia. Farther south there were vast forests
about 10 million years ago but became extinct that provided a habitat for bison and other
during the ice ages. Another super-sized animal wild cattle, like the aurochs, Bos primigenius,
194 was Elasmotherium, a type of rhinoceros an ancestor of domestic cattle. The open
US_192-195_Ice-age_Giants.indd 194 26/04/18 3:30 PM

