Sciency stuff | Mammoth Rider The Science in Mammoth Rider by SJ Poyton

The Mammoth Zone

Welcome to the Mammoth Zone! This is where you'll find loads of fun facts about mammoths and the world they lived in, as well as tonnes of information about the mammoths and science in Mammoth Rider.

If you can think of any great facts not on my list, drop me a message to let me know!

Mega Mammoth Facts

Mammoths are extinct animals, they are from the same family as elephants – Proboscidea. Like Humans are the same family as apes – and we are primates.
When you think of mammoths you probably think about russet brown, hairy elephants with curved tusks – waddling through the ice. That would be the iconic Woolly Mammoth. But just in the same way we humans are not the only species of ape-primate

There were other types of mammoths too.

The woolly mammoths roamed the tundra in the coldest harshest cycles of the ice-age.
Steppe mammoths were larger and less hairy and they lived in warmer period. The
Columbian mammoths were also huge and sparely covered with hair, they roams the Americas.
Then there are smaller mammoths like the These were the Dwarf Mammoth of Siberia’s Wrangel Island who were still alive 4000 years ago – the same time the pyramids were being built in Egypt!
In 2025 it was announced that a new species of mammoth has been discovered the Mexican mammoth.

Mammoth Fun Facts

Mammoths were still around while the Egyptian pyramids were being built.
Mammoths were identified as an extinct species before dinosaurs were identified.
Woolly Mammoths have a bottom flap that opens when they need to relieve themselves. The flap closes – to stop their bums getting frost bite – pants for mammoths!
Mammoth have the same DNA sequence as humans do for hair colour – which means they may could have come in the same range of fur colours as humans do hair colours. Just image a blonde, black, silver, strawberry blonde mammoth!

The Mammoths in Mammoth Rider

Goliath – is the biggest and oldest mammoth- he’s the first mammoth clones. He’s about to have his 20th Birthday.

Nayala – is a cheeky and cute calf. She is very special as she is the first non-russet brown mammoth born. She is white. When Mammoth Rider is set, Nayala is about six months old as her baby tusks have just begun to show.
Nayala’s Mum – is one of the adult females – cows - of Herd C. She is a brave mother determined to project her child.
The Matriarch – is one of the oldest mammoths, she is wise and leads Herd C, teaching the family how to survive in the arctic.

The mammoths in Mammoth Rider are cloned mammoths – they are not strictly one prehistoric mammoth species but winter proofed elephants or modern mammoths for a new millennium.

Cloning & Making Mammoths

The mammoths in Mammoth Rider are cloned. They are not true copies of woolly mammoths but edited Asian elephants – made to be more winterproof – modern mammoth for the new millennia.

What’s Cloning?

Cloning is making a copy of a living organism. Like photocopying a picture - but with a biological species. This is done my coping DNA.

What’s DNA?

DNA - (Deoxyribonucleic acid), is like a computer program for living organisms – telling them how to looks, behave and what to eat – EVERYTHING.

DNA looks like a curly staircase and is made up of paired strands. The complete set of strains is called a GENOME.

Identical Clones

Identical clones are when you make an exact copy of a specific induvial animal or plant. So all the DNA is EXCATLY the same. The most famous clone is Dolly the sheep. Dolly was born in 1993, she was the first cones animal, as exact copy of another sheep.

More recently Elizabeth Ann an endangered black footed ferret was born in 2020 – she was an identical clone of a female black footed ferret that had died in 1988.

Making Mammoths

As the earth warms the permafrost defrosts in the arctic and reveals a trove of treasures that have been locked in the ice for thousands of years – including mammoths. Some still have their hair and even their last dinner in their tummies. Scientists are finding DNA in these well persevered mammoths and are piecing together the full DNA sequence like a puzzle trying to get the full sequence of genome,

The plan is to use the mammoth genome as a blueprint to help scientists to ‘copy and paste’ edit the DNA of Asian elephants (mammoths closest living relative) to make a winterproofed elephant – born to Asian elephant mothers. Modern Mammoth.

How to Winterproof an elephant.

The changes to the Asian elephant will be closer resemble the genome of the woolly mammoth – and will make the clones more adapted for colder climates rather than the tropics like their surrogate Asian elephant mothers.

Adaptions like…

Furry – with finer inner coat covered by thick long dense hair – to keep them warm.
Smaller ears and tail – covered in fur to protect them from the frost.
Bigger feet that are more cushioned – so they have more surface area, to stop them sinking into the snow, and more padding to stop them getting cold.
A hump on their backs- full of fat – like a camel’s hump. It’s their packed lunch for when it is so cold that food is scarce.
Longer curved tusks, to help hem plough snow, so they can get to the food beneath it.
A furry bottom flap- that opens up when they need to relive themselves, then closes afterwards. This protects their bottoms from getting frostbite. It’s like mammoth pants!

Mammoths & Climate Change

For five million years mammoths roamed the tundra. They were a keystone species that helped maintain the ecosystem. This is exactly how they could theoretically help today.

But to understand how, first you need to understand the Arctic carbon cycle.

Arctic Carbon Cycle

The earth warms
This melts the ice caps
Resulting in moisture going into the air and cold water colling the arctic seas – making the region colder and causing it to snow.
Snow falls on parts of the tundra that hasn’t seen snow for thousands of years.
The snow settles and forms a blanket – which warms up the land beneath.
The land beneath is made up of PERMAFROST – land that has been frozen for thousands of years. As it warms the permafrost thaws.
The melting permafrost releases cold water into the seas causing more snow. It also releases methane gas. The gas goes up into the atmosphere and causes the world to warm up.
Around the cycle goes round and round. The world get warmer and warmer.

How can Mammoths Help?

Simply by being mammoths. Doing what mammoths do - trudging the tundra, and looking for food beneath the snow, they clear the blanket and prevent the permafrost from melting. Stopping the cycle and keeping the methane gas safely locked in the ice.