The woolly mammoth settles in Barcelona: "It's an icon of life from the past."

BarcelonaFossils are witnesses to the past and essential pieces for scientific dissemination. They allow us to understand evolution, the history of the Earth, and the existence of already extinct species, such as the mammoth. An animal that coexisted and interacted with humans for thousands of years, it is essential to know more about it now that our planet is facing great challenges that inevitably recall the conditions suspected to have contributed to its disappearance, such as the climate crisis or human action.

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), a mammal that could only live in groups, consumed up to 180 kilos of grass daily, and is one of the great icons of the Ice Age. This Monday, to discover more about this giant that gave rise to the elephant family, the Universe Room of Barcelona's CosmoCaixa Science Museum welcomed a real fossil of this species. It measures six meters long and three and a half meters high.

Its incorporation into the museum will allow visitors to learn about the life and extinction of these animals and, according to Mario Díaz, one of the exhibition guides, "will help break down false beliefs about the history that precedes us" and also contextualize its existence in the history of evolution. The skeleton of this mammoth is so important because "it is the most complete in the entire country and the only one that stands on its own," stated Javier Hidalgo, head of exhibitions and science activities at the La Caixa Foundation. It is made from the original, very well-preserved remains of several adult specimens preserved in permafrost.

This large skeleton is between 40,000 and 50,000 years old and comes from the Siberian region of Tyumen. The complete specimen was discovered in 2017 and, before arriving at the museum, toured CaixaForums across Spain, starring in an exhibition about its species that has received more than 300,000 visitors. It is now located in Barcelona, ​​​​in principle, indefinitely.

Visitors to CosmoCaixa will be able to take a journey back to the Ice Age by admiring this woolly mammoth, which, according to Díaz, "is an icon of life in the past." The animal was present in a vast area: from the United Kingdom to Spain, Siberia, China, and Japan. From now on, the mammoth also aspires to be the new star of the museum. CosmoCaixa director Valentí Farràs believes that the mammoth "will be very relevant" and "will become an emblematic piece of the museum." However, the fossil still doesn't have a name, and now a call will be made to the public to find the most suitable one.

A still mysterious animal

The hominids who shared space and time with mammoths believed they were mythological creatures due to their size and physiognomy. Later, they were even related to the Cyclops, who in Greek mythology were giants with a single eye in the middle of their forehead and who are known by Polyphemus, son of Poseidon in theOdyssey, whom Ulysses blinded to escape. Currently, despite more information about these animals, many aspects of their existence remain a mystery, such as the reason for their extinction.

To date, scientific evidence indicates that their disappearance must have been a combination of factors. On the one hand, rising global temperatures favored the extinction of forests and the subsequent elimination of the large areas of grasslands where mammoths fed, which reduced their populations. On the other hand, these animals suffered from hunting because during the Ice Age they were an important source of protein, fat, and skin. Their bones were also used to make tools and weapons, although the most coveted were the ivory defenses, from which sculptures and other objects were made. Their still-living relatives, the elephants, face the same threats today.

With this fossil, CosmoCaixa aims to reflect on the various factors that led to the disappearance of mammoths and the extent to which human action was responsible. To mark the arrival of the new mammoth to the Universe Room, which, according to Farràs, "begins a new era at CosmoCaixa," the museum will offer a specialized family tour, "Mammoth Hunters," starting at Christmas. The tour will highlight the work of paleontologists and archaeologists and explain the main characteristics of this Ice Age giant. In parallel, the "Remains and Traces" mediation space has been created, which delves deeper into fossils and the fossilization processes.