In Images: Ancient Beasts of the Arctic

Arctic beasts

(Image credit: Photo by Jonathan S. Blair/National Geographic)

Grassland steppe

mammoth-mastodon — (Image credit: Mauricio Anton)

Previously, researchers thought the Arctic looked like monolithic grassland steppe.

Permafrost cores

But by analyzing plant DNA in permafrost cores (like the one here from Talmyr, Siberia), the team found that many more wildflower-like plants called forbs were present at the time.

Flowery landscape

That suggests the landscape was filled with colorful blooms and a more varied flora than previously thought.

Mammoth tusk

The team also analyzed the gut contents of Pleistocene beasts and found they ate a higher proportion of forbs than thought.

High protein snacks

Tuolumne Meadows — (Image credit: M. Floyd, DOT)

These flowering plants could have provided high-protein, nutritious snacks for beast such as mammoths and rhinos .

Modern diet?

Bison covered in frost — (Image credit: Tim Townsend/US Department of the Interior)

The new results could also mean rethinking how much of different plant types that modern grazers, such as the bison, eat, researchers say.

Tia is the editor-in-chief (premium) and was formerly managing editor and senior writer for Live Science. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired.com, Science News and other outlets. She holds a master's degree in bioengineering from the University of Washington, a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Tia was part of a team at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that published the Empty Cradles series on preterm births, which won multiple awards, including the 2012 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.