From the archive: #EarthDay2020
This time last year I saw the longest tusks in the world in the wonderful museum at Malia in northern Greece. These belonged to the remarkable Pliocene beast Mammut borsini 🇬🇷
This time last year I saw the longest tusks in the world in the wonderful museum at Malia in northern Greece. These belonged to the remarkable Pliocene beast Mammut borsini 🇬🇷
The longest tusk is 5.02 m long and was excavated in July 2007. It is the second from right in this photo. This beat the previous record of 4.39 m excavated in 1997 (far left) #EarthDay2020
Here’s the excellent palaeoart of Mammut borsoni by Remie Bakker. His work appears in various displays at the Natural History Museum in Malia. This was not an ice age beast. The Pliocene was warmer and this animal was a forest dweller 🌳🌳
One of my favourite visits! #EarthDay2020
Steering these monster tusks through woodland makes the uphill boulder rolling of Sisyphus look like a bit of a doddle @stephenfry
Here’s a paper documenting the discovery of Mammut borsoni fossils in Greece sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
