Archive for the ‘Mammoths’ Category

The mammoth genome

April 24, 2015

From Sim Aberson on Facebook, from BBC Science, “Mammoth genome sequence completed” by Pallab Ghosh, beginning:

An international team of scientists has sequenced the complete genome of the woolly mammoth.

A US team is already attempting to study the animals’ characteristics by inserting mammoth genes into elephant stem cells.

They want to find out what made the mammoths different from their modern relatives and how their adaptations helped them survive the ice ages.

The new genome study has been published in the journal Current Biology.

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Name that mammoth

November 3, 2014

From the BBC News on 8/4/14, “Ipswich mammoth called Wool.i.am”:

A life-size woolly mammoth model has finally been named – thanks to inspiration from The Black Eyed Peas singer and The Voice star Will.i.am.

Ipswich Museum has had the previously unnamed model of the prehistoric mammal since the 1980s.

The museum’s under-fives group has now chosen Wool.i.am from a shortlist.

Rejected names included Manny, the mammoth in The Ice Age films, and Mick or Micky for Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy and ex-captain Mick Mills.

Jayne Austin, museum development manager, said: “We’d just never named him, even though our stuffed rhinoceros has been called Rosie since the 1960s.”

(Hat tip to Chris Ambidge.)

On the mammoth as my totem animal, here.

Wool.i.am is a great name, especially since it can outlast the singer will.i.am. It’s still a cute pun.

Mammoth silliness

October 30, 2014

From the comic strip The Argyle Sweater on the 28th:

Think of types of dogs, and translate that into mammoths. Mammoths are a bit large for some of these activities, but then there’s the oxymoronic toy mammoth.

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