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Description
Just returned from Auckland the other day, so back to business as usual.

This thicc boi is the earliest reconstruction drawn of a woolly mammoth. Yes, really. It was based off of the Adam's mammoth specimen, a complete skeleton with some of the flesh still intact that was uncovered in Siberia in 1799. The man behind this bizarre rendition, Roman Boltunov, went for a more pig-like approach with a hefty amount of creative license. I have to ask: why? Why do the hooves look so weird? Why are the tusks just protruding out of the snout like a pair of tentacles? Why are the ears just little nubs on the top of the head? Why do the eyes look so humanlike? Just... why everything?!

To be fair, at the time no one was completely sure what the mammoth was when they rediscovered their remains. While we now know that they are relatives of living elephants, back then it was considered a theory for the most part. In fact, some people even thought that the only way an elephant could end up in Siberia, was if it was carried there by the biblical flood. Have to tie it back to the Bible somehow, right? Nowadays, our understanding of these animals has changed in leaps and bounds since then. We no longer see mammoths as weird pig creatures who have rectangle bodies and tusks that are splayed out in a way, it'd be impossible for it to even eat.

Enjoy or don't!

Description
Just returned from Auckland the other day, so back to business as usual.

This thicc boi is the earliest reconstruction drawn of a woolly mammoth. Yes, really. It was based off of the Adam's mammoth specimen, a complete skeleton with some of the flesh still intact that was uncovered in Siberia in 1799. The man behind this bizarre rendition, Roman Boltunov, went for a more pig-like approach with a hefty amount of creative license. I have to ask: why? Why do the hooves look so weird? Why are the tusks just protruding out of the snout like a pair of tentacles? Why are the ears just little nubs on the top of the head? Why do the eyes look so humanlike? Just... why everything?!

To be fair, at the time no one was completely sure what the mammoth was when they rediscovered their remains. While we now know that they are relatives of living elephants, back then it was considered a theory for the most part. In fact, some people even thought that the only way an elephant could end up in Siberia, was if it was carried there by the biblical flood. Have to tie it back to the Bible somehow, right? Nowadays, our understanding of these animals has changed in leaps and bounds since then. We no longer see mammoths as weird pig creatures who have rectangle bodies and tusks that are splayed out in a way, it'd be impossible for it to even eat.

Enjoy or don't!