A Palaeontologist Reacts to Ice-Age Animals in the Movies 

Fun fact; Blue Sky didn't want to add dodos at all, but Fox said they'd cut funding if they were excluded, hence why they're all shown to die at the end, and never show up in the franchise again besides one dying in the second film

Finally a Paleotology react to Ice Age

9:33 According to the creators of Alpha, the large cat was a cave lion. They just added the oversized fangs to make it look cooler. 🦁

Although not accurate, the creation of the saber tooth squirrel in Ice Age was absolute genius. I could watch that little guy chase his nuts all day long.

Issues with movies depicting ice age animals: 1) wooly mammoth is oversized frequently.I noticed in 10,000BC the mammoths seem to be somewhere in the region of 5m tall or more, whereas in reality they were as big as a asian elaphent. 2)humans are portrayed as being able to frequently hunt mammoths and other huge megafauna frequently, whereas in reality we know that not only is there limited evidence for hunting, but that the wooden spears may have broken on impact due to the sheer size of the animal and fragility of the wood and stone weapons. 3)Terror birds depicted alongside people, this is false, none alive by 1million years. 4)Sabre tooths are often depicted too sleek and cat like, they would have been stocky as fuck, they took down huge megafauna.

The last mammoth still lived on Wrangler Iclands in Siberia, at the same time as King Khufu/Cheops instructed his great architect Imhothep to build him the first Egyptian pyramid. Like 4500 years ago.

The apparent flanges on the lower jaws of the saber-toothed creatures in Ice Age strongly suggest the marsupial saber-tooth, Thylacosmilus, rather than the metatherian Smilodon. But considering the liberties the animators took through the whole movie, it would be pretty hard to pin down a particular species in any case.

Were there only a select few specific "tribes" of humans that specialized in hunting Mammoths? I know the Clovis people were famous for doing so, but were there any other notable ones?

not only is the sabetooth in 10.000 BC oversized, the Smilodon lived in the America's only and not in a pseudo Egyptian setting, the sabertooth living in Europe and Asia was the Homotherium, but it's canines were [robabvbly not large enough to impress the audience. There was a hyena species living in the Yukon, but I think it was Chasmaporthetes, the "running hyena", build more wolflike and not Crocuta, the spotted hyena.

I personally would LOVE a series of this scientist just watching and pausing movies to comment on wether the animal is moving accurately or looks accurate that’s my FAVORITE I LOVE picking apart media in that specific way

Fun fact, mammoths fossils have been found in islands near Siberia which went extinct around 4,000 years ago, around the same time the ancient Egyptians were building the pyramids

That's so cool about the coloring of mammoths. I had no idea that they varied so much. Neat! Thanks for this great video!

So what you're telling me is Sid should have worn Diego as a hat?

Most the pity not one mention of the Phorusrhacos scene in 10,000BC. These “ Terror Birds “ were apex predators and lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene. Not known from the more northern latitudes but, definitely present in the southern US.

I wonder if the coat colors of wolves were even that diverse that far back in the Ice Age like what Alpha shows. From my knowledge, black coats in wolves didn’t exist until pretty recently as a result from wolves breeding with dogs who carried over that black-coat gene to dogs. Black wolves now, as a result of that, are often more genetically diverse and healthier b/c of it, and also have more tamer personalities and temperaments, whereas grey-coat wolves (which range from white and grey, to brown to red and anything in-between that isn’t black) are more aggressive. So I wonder if Alpha took that into account or not or if I just didn’t know some older species of wolf at the time carried that black coat gene before dogs introduced it to them.

Scrat the Sabertooth squirrel was just a creature the studio wanted to do just for the fun of it. They knew that sabertooth squirrel didn't exist lol

Actually the last mammoth lived on an island off the coast of Siberia at about the same time as pyramid building in Egypt if that actually matters to anyone.

Absolutely fascinating thank you

Didn’t they actually find a fossil of a prehistoric squirrel like species with saver fangs AFTER the ice age movies? I’m sure I read something about that. Obviously if it’s true there’s only been one (and probably not a whole one) specimen found otherwise it’d be more well known.

I'm glad she mentioned that Sid should be much bigger. I've seen a statue in person here in Brazil that is supposed to represent the actual size of the sloth.... And it was HUGE. 😂😂

What about the terror bird from 10,000 BC?

It should be noted that Smilodon was, ironically, poorly adapted for ice age conditions; it did much better during the warmer interglacials (the Pleistocene was NOT one cold period$.

The screen puts at least 100 pounds on the cat from 10,000 BC…. Just saying

But I've always heard less than 10% of animals actually fossilize. So the truth is we don't know what could have been out there that didn't have any fossils at all.

Spotted and brown hyenas are more African animals but… I’m pretty sure the striped hyena is more of an Asian resident, alongside tigers and rusty-spotted cats (just look them up, they are adorable!)

Never knew about "Alpha" I'll have to look that up.

Very interesting! Yes - I burst out laughing at the galloping mammoths in 10,000 BC!

omg watch all the movies with me i need your comentary!!! you would be great

I am from Washington State, and used to love visiting the Grabd Coulee area, which has the well known ‘Blue Rhino’ fossil. What is the difference between this and the Wooly Rhino? Amd im so curious that only one of these fossils have been found here!

It's always cool to see these giant animals. Especially since all the animals that we have now are pretty pathetic by comparison. (Personally I'm a dinosaur person but i still like seeing later megaphawna)

I'm pretty sure those "glyptodons" were actually doedicurus because of their spikey tail clubs they had

Gosh heck ice age was a highlight of my childhood And sid looked pretty strange with his eyes stretched out

I think 10,000 bc should be called a genre of hypothetical science… a series of what ifs inspired by real world understandings of science peppered with a bit of whimsical fantasy. It’s fun.

I see a paleontology video, I click

Well, the age of the Pyramids are not 100% estabilished. There are some theories suggesting that the Pyramids were already there when the ancient egypgians found them.

Can you do the Fun on a Bun episode of Futurama?

The Spirit Cave mummy is the oldest human mummy found in North America. It was discovered in 1940 in Spirit Cave, 13 miles east of Fallon, Nevada, United States, by the husband-and-wife archaeological team of Sydney and Georgia Wheeler. Wikipedia Miracinonyx is an extinct genus of felids belonging to the subfamily Felinae that was endemic to North America from the Pleistocene epoch and morphologically similar to the modern cheetah, although its apparent similar ecological niches have been considered questionable due to anatomical morphologies of the former that would have limited the ability to act as a specialized pursuit predator. Wikipedia

The part about domestication of wolves is a little tricky but we think that there were probably multiple routes that it went. Apart from what she described, it’s actually believed that most likely wolves sought US out vs people attempting to obtain puppies since mostly likely trying to do the second one would wind up with you getting killed or injured

The feline in Alpha is listed as being a cave lion in the Wikipedia entry. I wish more movies, realistically or not, would depict Arctodus simus. The first Ice Age will always be a favorite movie of mine (especially compared to the later movies) historical "accuracy" notwithstanding.

I don’t think anything ever claimed that 10,000BC was meant to be accurate in any way. It’s a total fantasy movie set in a fantasy universe 🤦‍♂️

Wait, I thought that Glyptodons are closely related to armadillos not sloths

OK... whilst Im not saying they used them to make the pyramids, the mammoths on Wrangel Island (and possibly Northern Siberia I think) survived up until 4000 years ago, when Egyptians were building pyramids.

about the ice age comment, I remember a cartoon that I saw years back on the old internet, called when everything had saber teeth, and it was a far side Esque group of animals including squirrels, horses, goats, cats, etc all with saber teeth. wish still had it.

Alpha. I think I'm the only person in the world that loves that movie. Everything about it. I hate movies that have more than 1 ending. The story is done, move on. This is the only movie I've seen where I actually like each ending on it's own merret. What, there were four full 'ending' of this movie and I loved each one. Dang, now i got to go watch it again.

10,000 BC is totally inaccurate regarding humans from what I see here. 12,000 yrs ago would've been the border of Upper Paleolithic right about before the Neolithic revolution. We are talking about stone age hunter gatherers. This means No farming, NO civilization, NO pyramids, NO keeping animals (besides an occassional dog-wolf who chooses to be there) NO surplus, NO trade, NO material culture. Hunter gatherers have NO property ownership, No classes/castes, NO slavery, NO inheritance or need for paternity, thus NO control of female sexuality and NO patriarchy. NO role rigidity (if a male is excellent at searching out sweet berries or dense edible plants you want him to doing just that ; if a female is an exceptional shot or tracker you want her hunting). NO chiefs except in the sense that the one or few people who contribute the most are generally seen as leader/s but they have NO power over anyone else. The only power is personal power. We lived in small egalitarian bands of maybe 50 up to maybe 80 ppl. Hunter gatherers wherever they are found both geographically and chronologically are among the most egalitarian societies on earth, an egalitarianism that is almost always includes women and children, which is unheard of in any post-agricultural society, until the very recent advent of modern democracy. Unlike modern democracies, hunter gatherers have no resource inequality/hierarchy/class; the one or few who contribute the most are seen as the chief or council. The chief has responsibility without power over others and early ethnographies of hunter gatherers are full of hilarious anecdotes where older men nominate ec other as chief because nobody wants to be chief

10000BC is correct at all: Smilodons lived in North America. This movie takes place in either southern Europe, or Northern Africa. Cant really tell, because geographicly this movie even sucks more. I even doubt smildons still existed at all 12000 yrs ago. Als the type om mammoth shown in this movie is North American. The mammoths shown combined with the pyramids is interesting though. Yes according do science the oldest pyramids are 6000 yrs old, may be a bit older. But there are still some theories, mostly ancient alien, that belive the pyramids are over 10000 yrs old. The movie hints on those theory, which I think is ok to do. At least the come up with a much more plausible theory how the pyramids were build, than is done in the ancient alien theories. Still a bad movie though. I didnt see Alpha, but what is seen in the scene shown are white people doing the chase in North America. That is wrong. Asian people crossed the Bering Street during the ice age. Definatly Europeans there back in the days. Chase however is done quite well and is depicted in some ancient cave drawings.

It's one hell of a coincidence that the megafauna extinction events in Australia, America, Madagascar and New Zealand are so closely correlated with the arrival of humans

She as assumes in the 1st movie that humans were her size, probably not true. Also the is some debates because newer findings suggest their may have been civilizations, even Egyptian civilizations that MAY have been older than previously thought though no confirmed.

Uuuum he knows you're a paleontologist right? Sorry just picking, just messing.. don't hurt me.

There are two species of bison living today: the American bison ( Bison bison) and the European bison (Bison bonasus).

Interesting video and lovely lady, but their patreon, Canada, was advertised too much. Nonetheless, we also had a great time, thank you!

Interesting but she doesn't give much room for artistic interpretation. There was a Homotherium type beast type is believed to be larger than some if not most Smilodons including Smilodon fatalis.

How about on TikTok when the videos say that the ancestors were powerful, frightening wolves that stalked their prey - & this dog is on its way to Starbucks for a pup cup. 😆

I just wanna know if sid is a megatherium or not 😭

Nah that 10,000 bc Smilodon is trash. That’s just an upscale Roger with saber teeth. Didn’t even mention the tail.

I thought glyptodonts were armadillos. Well I mean I *know* they are but the way she worded that was weird. Sloths, armadillos, etc are all related but why bring up sloths when armadillos are what they are and they’re more closely related to modern day armadillos.

This was a fun episode. I wish I knew even more about the Ice Age(s).

Where wolf..where wolf...7:14...there wolf. There man in tree.

Might as well mention that the near-extinction of bison in NA was part of a purposeful hunt to separate American Indians from their land

Ice age animals need more recognition

1. The earth is only about 7k yrs old. 2. Animals don't have hands.

Was there any evidence that wolves and humans worked together during the ice age?

It would’ve been really funny if Ice Age just wasn’t one of the movies

How could a mammoth survive the heat of Egypt?

Glyptodonta are closely related to armadillos, not sloths.

I HAVE FOUND THE DINO NERD HUB I AM FINALLY HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will watch movies with you anytime.

Dude buck teeth make him cute and explain his bilateral lisp

They didn't find terror birds as same time as humans.

Sid the sloth is supposed to represent the giant ground sloth

what about the mammoths on Wrangel island? Didn't they persist into around when the Egyptian pyramids were being built?

I think another thing that Ice Age got wrong was they used Brontotheriums for Carl and Frank's species, but that species went extinct before the Ice Age. It would have been more appropriate to use a Woolly Rhinoceros.

Hahaha love it, "well we're gonna start with 10000 BC" you got my curiosity right there. Probably the worst movie i have seen.

Take a shot every time she says "Yukon."

May I Till You A Fact Steppe Mammoths The Cousins Of Woolly Mammoths We’re estimated to have had a shoulder height of 4.5 metres (15 ft) and a weight of 14.3 tonnes (14.1 long tons; 15.8 short tons).

I want her to identify what kind of dog Gru has from "Despicable Me"

9:19 I also find it very interesting, how different modern dog breeds were originally born. Pretty unbelievable that all the different looking dogs of the world hailed from a singular canine species, the wolf. (Unless they domesticated some other wild canines, like coyotes or jackals, in parts of the world where wolves don't usually reside.) In my knowledge, some of the oldest still existing dog breeds are salukis from Egypt and Arabia, most likely breeded from African end Eurasian jackals, and pugs, that have been around for about 400-500 years. Do you know any other very old dog breeds around the world?🐺🐶

I can never see or hear anything about Ice Age without thinking about that one thing that Casual Geographic said so very eloquently and truthfully. If Ice Age was real, Sid would´ve worn Diego like a Furcoat.

3:38 So, is that where smilodon's popular incorrect name, "saber-tooth tiger", came from? Because that really looks like a tiger's head with giant fangs sticking out of it. Nowadays we know that smilodons and tigers are not related to each other in any way, and smilodon is often referred to simply as "saber-tooth cat".😉🐯

Her not calling Diego "saber tooth tiger" makes me so angry! I just can't explain why😂😂

I thought glyptodonts were close relatives of armadillos

If you haven't figured it out by now the part where Eddie is flying and suddenly crashing down and the other glyptodon said some breakthrough meaning Eddie has literally broken half when he fell to the ground hence the sound of a thud /cracking😳

My partner knows to just let me pause and babble about animals constantly in various media we watch. If they don't then they have me talking their ear off while they're trying to concentrate on something else.

I thought there where two species of bison? The American one and the European one.

Syd and the squirrel thingy are my favorite wee characters. I have many children n grandchildren and now great grands.i watch this movie all the time

As far as mammoths building the pyramids, it seems like animals adapted to cold weather climates like the Yukon would do fairly poorly in a desert no?

We are still in the ice age.

Smilodon was North American, right? Are they closer related to pumas? That would make sense to me, in terms of what their coat looked like, but I am absolutely no kind of scientist.

So what youre saying is we had blonde mammoths and technically super saiyan mammoths. Thats awesome

Nice thank you this is very interesting, as an australian i’ve heard and seen all about australian megafauna, nice change

I wanna work for you... Even just highlighting things for you lol

My understanding is that modern dogs do not descend from wolves. That wolves and dogs have a common ancestor that split into modern canines and wolves.

The real question is: where are the chalicothere movies?!

Glyptodons are related to armadillo's , not sloths ; Don't want to say she's an idiot but will sayshe is wrong .

was the cave lion really the biggest spicies of cat to have ever lived

The attacking big cat in alpha looked like a Lion

Wait a minute, why are there ancient egyptians in 10,000 b.c. they were here from 3600 b.c. so... Then mammoth abuse for blocks but for blocks there were people

The 10,000 BC smilodon reminds me of a liger

So when we’re dire wolves around?

Love her!!!! She’s awesome