Native American Tamed Mammoths
- Thread starter Hawkeye
- Start date
ASB, for the same reasons my thread "What If Africans Domesticated Elephants?"
Being related to the now extinct Mammoth, they, like elephants, most like suffered from the same issues of domestication.
1. Notoriously hungry and tough to feed to support domestication in mass
2. Long sexual maturation process (10 to 12 years for female elephants)
I doubt Pleistocene Native Americans had life expectancies past 30
I am skeptical. The reason the wooly mammoth disappeared were the changes in the ecosystem going on at the time. The arrival of the ancient Americans over the Bering strait if anything rather sped up those changes. So even if the early Americans were to catch and tame mammoths (we're not talking about breading and raising here for reasons mentioned higher up) ... So even if the first Americans were domesticating mammoths, eventually they would all die out anyway and we're back to start.
This without answering the question what a group of hunter-gatherers would do with an animal who's only use is clearing fields and hauling construction material. If they domesticated sheep or goats, at least they would have milk. And mammoth wool is overrated. Especially if you consider the shearing part.
This without answering the question what a group of hunter-gatherers would do with an animal who's only use is clearing fields and hauling construction material. If they domesticated sheep or goats, at least they would have milk. And mammoth wool is overrated. Especially if you consider the shearing part.
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god....freyjones
Banned
they may as well have tamed the American lion or the sabre-toothed cat.
Some species aren't suitable for domestication. Aurochs were obviously, even though they were more aggressive than modern cattle, but I guess perhaps no more than horses.
Some species aren't suitable for domestication. Aurochs were obviously, even though they were more aggressive than modern cattle, but I guess perhaps no more than horses.
If you dont stick just to mammoths, some gomphotheriids would be better alternatives, as they lived in forests of central and south america and survived far into holocene. Whatever were the reasons some settled people tamed elephants in forests of middle-east and india, central or south american people could've do it with Haplomastodon, Stegomastodon or Cuvieronius too.
For North america, Mammut americanum would be better alternative in such scenario too, being far more widespread than Mammuthus primigeus. Even better alternative would be Mammuthus columbi, as it wasnt, unlike Woolly mammoth, specialized grazer, but had far more flexible diet.
But there are far more interesting Late pleistocene-early holocene animals, which could be not only tamed, but domesticated as well, and would have big impact on development of americas.
For North america, Mammut americanum would be better alternative in such scenario too, being far more widespread than Mammuthus primigeus. Even better alternative would be Mammuthus columbi, as it wasnt, unlike Woolly mammoth, specialized grazer, but had far more flexible diet.
But there are far more interesting Late pleistocene-early holocene animals, which could be not only tamed, but domesticated as well, and would have big impact on development of americas.
Not happening. To be able to convert an animal into a beast of burden requires generations of selective culling and selection to occur and that's IF it's consistent. With the long birth and maturation process of elephants, and most likely their distant cousin, the Wooley mammoth, pre-historic native americans would not able to do it
This actually calls for another WIF: What if the First Americans developed a culture to rival those of Mesopotamia a good 1000 years before Mesopotamia started to develop a culture?
Without such culture, with the population being mostly nomadic or semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, there is not much need for logging and construction and therefore not much work for a logging mammoth either.
ASB, sort of, considering the circumstances.
Disregarding the fact that the woolly mammoth could have stood a chance of surviving if left along, there are more mammoths than just the woolly one.
Columbian mammoths are pretty much slightly hairy elephants and could be found pretty much everywhere in NA.
There's also mastodons, which are similar to Indian elephants.
Disregarding the fact that the woolly mammoth could have stood a chance of surviving if left along, there are more mammoths than just the woolly one.
Columbian mammoths are pretty much slightly hairy elephants and could be found pretty much everywhere in NA.
There's also mastodons, which are similar to Indian elephants.
and then there are at least three more species which lived trough pleistocene-holocene boundary (one species survived till 6000 BC in Columbia), with some of them being heavily associated with humans (and thus its more likely somebody would catch baby gomphothrerid).
Flocculencio
Donor
Mastodons had very little to do with Asian elephants. They're a totally different family (Mammutidae as opposed to mammoths and all living elephants which are collectively Elephantidae).
Mammoths are, in fact, much more closely related to Asian elephants
So the problem becomes how to get Native Americans to a point in population/technology where taming is possible, at a time when Mammoths where still around.
I'm not talking about genetic relation, I'm talking about appearance, behavior and niche. They both converged in their evolutions to fulfill a mostly browsing, some grazing niche and should be quite similar in other ways.
jahenders
Banned
As noted, it's hard to do because they went instinct largely due to natural climatic changes that are hard to avoid. However, if they had, perhaps, been more adaptable and had survived, I think it's possible they could have been domesticated to some degree. It could have made for some interesting battles and a bit of a surprise to the Spanish, though firearms would soon scare them off.
If they did survive to the modern day, I could see them being really cool mascots -- could you imagine when the Missoula Mammoths take to the field with their mascot?
If they did survive to the modern day, I could see them being really cool mascots -- could you imagine when the Missoula Mammoths take to the field with their mascot?