What Animals Were Hunted in the Ice Age?

Ice ages occur when Earth’s temperature decreases for extended periods, leading to massive temperature drops across its surface and prompting large mammals such as saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths to go extinct during one such glacial period.

But why did they go extinct? It remains a puzzle. Unfortunately, human hunters likely played a part in contributing to their extinction.

Mammoths

Many Ice Age people would have come into regular contact with mammoths on a daily basis. Perhaps they walked past a woolly mammoth ready to defend its young, or an elephant-like herd stripping tree branches away.

Mammoths, mastodons, giant bison and saber-toothed cats have become extinct due to various factors, including climate changes, human hunting with sharp weapons, contagious diseases and contagious habitat destruction.

Siberian Ice Age people consumed mammoth meat as well as other large herbivores such as steppe bison and moose for sustenance. Mammoth’s thick coat provided both nutrition and preservation capabilities – an advantage when hunting mammoth.

Bears

Bears were top predators during the Ice Age and often presented early humans with formidable adversaries, which often consisted of deadfall traps or snares set to catch them as soon as they emerged from their dens.

Kilgii Gwaay wet site in southern Haida Gwaii contains a high proportion of bear remains. Differential transport values and bone utility data show these were likely winter kills where bears stored up fat reserves to allow them to maintain an abundant protein diet during hibernation.

Wolves

At the height of the Ice Age, herds of bison roamed freely across a region rich in grasses, willows and shrubs known as the steppe. Their presence attracted predators such as wolves as well as early humans as well as predatory species like lions with long straight tusks or narrow-nosed rhinoceroses with straight tusks who sought protection.

Herds were also protected by dire wolves–despite their name, not closely related to modern canines. Scientists have discovered that dire wolves more closely resemble African jackals and coyotes than any of our own canine relatives.

Lions

The Ice Age was an unforgiving period for large mammals, including mammoths and ground sloths, who perished along with predators like saber-toothed tigers and dire wolves.

One animal that managed to make it out alive was the cave lion, Pantera spelaea. These giant cats roamed Siberia’s frozen steppes tens of thousands of years ago before humans killed and butchered it for food at Siegsdorf site.

Moose

Ice Age environments were home to an astonishing variety of animals. Giant mammals such as woolly mammoths, steppe bison, and scimitar cats ruled this landscape.

There were also monstrous reptiles like the megalania, an enormous relative of Komodo dragon that reached seven metres long, but humans are responsible for driving many Ice Age beasts to extinction for the first time – evidence found at La Brea tar pits shows this.

Horses

Mastodons, sloths and bison were key agents of change during the Ice Age ecosystems. By eating, defecating and trampling their landscape was altered forever by their actions.

At the conclusion of the last ice age, many large animals vanished without trace – yet scientists still can’t pinpoint exactly why.

Why have many iconic mammals, like mastodons, become extinct? It could be down to climate change or hunting by early humans – either or both might play a part.

Goats

Ice Age animals included many giant creatures known as megafauna (known for weighing more than 100 pounds). Examples include mammoths and ground sloths; as well as mid-sized animals like deer and dire wolves as well as smaller creatures like the saiga antelope.

Scientists remain baffled as to why these large herbivores became extinct at the end of each ice age, having survived at least 12 prior ones. What changed at this one’s end?

Bearded Dragons

Beardies, commonly referred to as pet owners’ beardies, have much to teach us. Like all reptiles, these unique reptiles possess incredible sensory capabilities – from color vision and motion detection through their parietal eye (an opening in their skulls) all the way down to color recognition through color vision and detection capabilities.

Beardies possess spines to defend themselves when threatened, puffing up their “beard,” turning jet black and sending a message to any predator that messes with them. Beardies make great pets as they’re easy to care for and adapt easily to new environments.

Megalania

Ice Age megafauna such as mammoths, woolly bears, dire wolves, cave lions and ground sloths began dying out as their respective ice sheets melted, though this didn’t befall all life on Earth.

During the Ice Age, Australia witnessed the appearance of Megalania lizards: monstrous goanna-like reptiles which hunted and foraged on its dry plains for food, much like modern Komodo dragons or lace monitors do today; these likely proved deadly predators.