| Woolly Mammoth | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biological information | |
| Time period : | Middle-Late Pleistocene to Early-Late Holocene epochs |
| Lifestyle : | Herbivore |
| In the series | |
| Brought back : | 1 female, named Martha |
| Appearances : | A Mammoth Undertaking Dinobirds The Bug House Supercroc |
The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigeniusis) was a prehistoric elephantid that lived in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the middle-late Pleistocene and early Holocene epochs. It is one of the most famous prehistoric animals of all time.
Portrayal in the series[]
Woolly mammoths were highly social animals. If an individual female was separated from the rest of its herd, the mammoth would not only suffer death slowly from a loner's life, but also probably hunted by predators. These herds consisted of females and calves. Males lived a solitary life, only returning to a herd to reproduce. (PP: A Mammoth Undertaking)
Woolly mammoths had a thick layer of fur on its body as well as a thick layer of fat. This adaptation was used to cope with the coldest weather conditions. Woolly mammoths however would have had trouble living in a sub-tropical climate but having a haircut would help it cope with the temperatures. (PP: Dinobirds)
Woolly mammoths also had the ability to live in the herds of other species in the past, that is unless if they were brought back to present day, they would manage to live along other animals such as African elephants. However, they would have to be approved by the matriarch. Even when approved, the mammoth would not be able to interact with the calves (logically due to the fact that elephants can't survive among strangers). (PP: A Mammoth Undertaking, PP: Supercroc)
During mating season, male mammoths (or bulls) would undergo musth like modern day elephants. In the process, they would undergo massive testosterone surges and they would become extremely aggressive. They would even trample on harmless neighboring animals, picking up warning fights with other animals such as Elasmotherium. (PP: A Mammoth Undertaking)
The trunk of a woolly mammoth was strong enough to pull calves out of thick layers of mud, with the help of their tusks. (PP: A Mammoth Undertaking)
In Prehistoric Park[]
Martha with her dead sister. (A Mammoth Undertaking)
"A Mammoth Undertaking"[]
Nigel Marven found two female woolly mammoths by a river. One of them was lying dead and the other was alive. Nigel found out that the deceased mammoth was caught in a trap assembled by humans and was killed with spears. The survivor was defending the corpse of what was probably her sister. Nigel slowly approached the mammoth. Whilst doing so, the mammoth collapsed onto the ground. Nigel investigated the mammoth corpse and then found out that the living mammoth had a spear head caught in her hide and was badly infected. Nigel then called his crew to come over.
When his crew arrived and set up camp, Nigel tranquilized the mammoth and comforted her whilst she dosed off. During the evening, Nigel found out that lots of scavengers like hyenas and wolves were prowling nearby. Nigel and his crew managed to keep them at bay by shining torches at them.
During the night, whilst Nigel was defending the mammoth, a pack of wolves attacked her. As the mammoth desperately tried to fend off the attackers, Nigel and his team managed to ward them off. Nigel then returned to the mammoth and comforted her.
Martha walking towards the Time Portal. (A Mammoth Undertaking)
In the morning, the mammoth woke up and managed to stand up. However, as soon as she got up, she returned to her sister's carcass. As he set up the time portal, Nigel used himself as bait and lured the mammoth through the Time Portal. As soon as he and the mammoth entered the 21st century, Nigel immediately called Suzanne to deal with the mammoth's wound.
Suzanne and her blonde assistant injected the mammoth with a sedative which allowed her to operate on the mammoth more easily. She then proceeded in slowly removing the spear head from the mammoth's shoulder. She then handed the bloody spear to her assistant and subsequently cleaned the open wound with tissues. Later during the day, the mammoth recovered, and was moved to her enclosure. The team chose to name her Martha. At feeding time, Martha wasn't feeding on any of the hay she was given. The team called Suzanne over to check her out. Suzanne found it odd since her vital signs were normal and her wound was healing and wasn't infected. Suzanne then did some research, and believed that Martha was either not being fed with the right types of grasses, or that elephants and mammoths do not have the same digestive tract.
Nigel then goes back to the Pleistocene, 150,000 years ago, to take some plant samples back to Prehistoric Park and get Martha eating again. There, he saw a large herd of woolly mammoth traveling. However, the herd was spooked by a bull mammoth in musth. As the mammoths got away from the male, they began feeding on the vegetation. However, a baby mammoth got stuck in a muddy puddle. As the rest of the herd approached the sinking youngster, the matriarch of the herd hoisted the baby mammoth out of the mud with her trunk and tusks. Subsequently, the herd began feeding again.
A herd of Woolly mammoths. (A Mammoth Undertaking)
When Nigel was backing away from a nearby Elasmotherium, a bull mammoth confronted Nigel aggressively from the opposite direction, possibly viewing Nigel for what the bull thought was a potential threat or a animal-to-get-his-feet-on. The bull mammoth charged at Nigel but he managed to escape just in time by driving away in his snowmobile.
When Nigel returned from the Pleistocene with his plant samples, along with the Elasmotherium, he offered Martha with grass but Martha still refused to eat. Nigel then decided that Martha was lonely and needed a companion. Nigel later had an important meeting with Suzanne and Bob about the following course of action and decided to introduce Martha to the nearby herd of African elephants.
The next day, Nigel's crew got the matriarch African elephant to go to Martha's enclosure. After a long confrontation, Martha was accepted into the herd and she felt lonely no more. At the end of the episode, Martha, to everyone's relief, was finally starting to feed with the elephants.
"Dinobirds"[]
Martha having a trim. (Dinobirds)
Nigel Marven checked on Martha and found out that she was integrating with the African elephant herd. However, he realized that the climate at Prehistoric Park was not suitable for an Ice Age animal. He thought of a cunning plan but it had to wait since he was planning on another rescue mission.
Later at the park, Suzanne McNabb's team tempted Martha towards them so that they could trim her coat of hair. Whilst sniffing her hair, Martha sneezed at the camera and at Suzanne's team, to their disgust.
"The Bug House"[]
Martha was briefly seen feeding with the herd of African elephants.
"Supercroc"[]
Martha was seen trying to interact with the African elephant herd matriarch's baby but was warded off by the matriarch (who either changed her mind for some reason, or was afraid that Martha would harm the calf). When Suzanne McNabb later checked on Martha, she was worried that if Martha was isolated for any too longer, she would stop eating again.
Martha fighting Matilda. (Supercroc)
During the Mass Break-Out, when Matilda the Tyrannosaurus rex was eager to hunt down the baby African elephant after separating it from the rest of the herd, Martha intervened and defended the matriarch's offspring until Nigel Marven distracted Matilda. After the break-out was dealt with, Martha was made an accepted member of the elephant herd, granted access to play with the baby elephant whose life she saved.
Trivia[]
- The woolly mammoth is the first and only herbivorous vertebrate Nigel successfully rescued on his first trip to its time period.