Post #14252

Muskox: Titan of the North. The secret to surviving -70°C and ancient tactics against wolves This woolen titanium is an echo of the prehistoric era, when the world was plunged into eternal winter. A symbol of a bygone period, a relic whose spirit and body were tempered by cold, ice and blizzard. Meet the musk ox - the mammoth of our time. The musk ox exudes primeval power. Thick horns protect the skull like a helmet. Coarse long hair falls almost to the ground. Under a thick fur coat is an alloy of muscles and imperturbable confidence weighing 300-600 kilos. In the conditions of the far north it will not be possible to look less brutal - the ungulate lives in the Arctic lands of Europe and America: Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Siberia. Despite its name and appearance, the musk ox is neither a sheep nor a cow. According to taxonomy, goats are closest to them! Why is the beast so different from its relatives? The fact is that musk oxen appeared when being big and hairy was vital. During the Ice Age. The ancestors of shaggy goats descended from the Himalayas 3.5 million years ago. Then, when the overall temperature on the planet began to rapidly fall. On the way to the north, the musk oxen became hairy and mature. When woolly mammoths, rhinoceroses, saber-toothed tigers and cave bears roam around you - you need to match up! About a million years ago, the species was already trampling the plains of Europe. And 200 thousand years ago, when man had just become intelligent, the ungulate had already crossed the Bering Strait and populated America. The musk ox perfectly adapted to the conditions of the Ice Age. He became the largest representative of the goat subfamily. The larger the body size, the slower it cools. Simple physics. Thick two-layer wool helps keep warm. On top is the guard hair. It works like a windbreaker: it protects against wind, water and snow. In the winter season, the musk ox's tails hang almost to the ground! The inner layer is called qiviut - stuffed down, warming even in the most severe frosts. This is one of the most valuable types of wool in the world: it is stronger than sheepskin, but softer than cashmere! In the snow dunes, the musk ox feels like a fish in water. In snowdrifts the animal is capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 km/h. And powerful hooves help to get food even from under a layer of loose snow 40-50 cm thick. Surviving alone in the icy desert is not an option. Therefore, musk oxen gather in large herds: in winter the number of heads reaches fifty. Both the female and the male can control the group. The head of the herd chooses where to run, when to rest and where to look for food. Together they scour the icy expanses, gratefully accepting any food that fate sends them: moss, moss, dry herbs and shrubs - there is no choice of menu in the kingdom of eternal cold. The musk ox itself rarely becomes prey for anyone. The only ones who can encroach on his barrel are an experienced pack of polar