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Coyote story

Terra says: Extinction is when the things in the jungle die and leave their bones. Some examples of these animals are the dinosaurs, saber tooth tigers and the mammoth. I think that the mammoth is really related to the elephant. They are the same shape, they both have big tusks and trunks. They do have different fur. The mammoth had fur because it lived where it snowed. The elephant doesn't have fur because it lives where it is hot and dry. Could the mammoth be related to any other extinct animal? Why?

Sean Bell replies: Interestingly, most animals that live and die in jungles don't leave fossils--those ecosystems are too efficient at breaking down every part of a skeleton. As for mammoths and elephants, they are definitely related, but not directly (pretty close though). The only other extinct relatives of mammoths are other kinds of elephants that could look pretty crazy (I've listed some of these types in a different response to another person--see what you two can come up with). They are given names like Mastodon, gomphothere, deinothere, and platybelodon (see if you can find pictures of these on the internet or somewhere else!). We know these beasts are related mainly because of similar patterns in their teeth and skeletons--an elephant tooth is very easy to recognize once you know what to look for.

Terra asks: I am studying elephants and I want to know why is their skin grey?

Sept 17-2002 Terra asks: Why do tigers eat meat?

Sept 29-2002 Sean Bell replies: I suppose, at some point in evolutionary history, tigers (well, the ancestors WAY back) probably had the evolutionary choice (not a conscious or moral choice--no animal does anything because it wants to, only because it has a series of adaptations for certain lifestyles) that was presented to the basal carnivores. Be a generalist, like a hyaena, dog, racoon or bear, all of which eat meat, fruit, insects, etc--this means less specialization and wider diets. Or, as tigers (and all cats) and most weasels have done, specialize as a meat eater--not much variety, but meat is much easier to digest and get nutrients from, IF you can get it. So tigers, and all cats, eat meat because a very early ancestor of cats (like an animal called Proailurus) was adapted for living in trees (givinhg them the ability to wrestle with prey), and had the right type of teeth (for killing and slicing up meat); eating meat was an efficient means of getting the nutrients they needed. (PS there is a post to another question about the other direction--animals designed for eating meat, related to bears, that eat mainly plants.--not common in the order carnivora, but it does exist)

Oct 3-2002 Terra asks: Why do elephants have such big ears?

Oct 3-2002 Sean Bell replies: The first question is, do all elephants have big ears?
Actually, no. Only one of the subspecies of the African elephant has big ears, the big savvannah dwelling one that most of us are familiar with.
The other living types--the forest elephant of Africa, and the Asian elephant (like at the Calgary Zoo) hav quite small ears. As well, a lot of the extinct ones, like the Columbian and woolly mammoths, also had fairly small ears.
The reason actually has nothing to do with what we normally think of when it comes to ears--HEARING. Since the African elephant's ears are pretty floppy, they won't channel sound any better.
Instead, you have to look at the environments where these three elephants come from. Asian elephants live in the humid, cooler forests of southeast Asia. Forest Elephants of Africa live in the Congo rain forest--also cooler. In both cases, the sun is rarely directly heating the elephants.
The Savannah elephant, on the other hand, lives out on the open plains of Africa, right under the sun. And the worst thing that can happen to a big mammal is for the body temperature to get too high (think of the last fever you had).
African elephants have to get rid of heat, fast. Sweating is difficult because of their thick skin. Not enough surface on the pads of their feet and their tongue (that's how dogs cool off). So instead, they have really big ears loaded up with small blood vessels. As the hot blood travel through the elephants' ears, it makes a lot of contact with the air, which causes heat to dissipate--fanning the ears speeds up the cooling process.
So here's the question. Why did many of the mammoths have small ears?

Sept 17-2002 Terra asks: Why do dogs bark?

Sept 29-2002 Sean Bell replies: Why do dogs bark? Maybe dogs ask why people talk! Seriously, it is mostly for social reasons--territory calling, locating, greeting--communicating! Just like people. Bored dogs at home who bark are often just trying to get the pack (family) to come back.

Terra says: I drew the elephant because it is endagnered. The elephant is endangered because people kill it for it's tusks.

Ms. R-M replies: Hi Terra, The African Elephant is endangered because people have killed them for their tusks. I understand that Asian Elephants are endangered for yet another reason. Do you know what it is? Ms. R-M   

Terra replies: I don't know why Asian elephants are endangered. Can you tell me?