Wild Yak (Bos grunniens) | 24 Jun 2019

Researchers analysed yak dung to understand the vegetation and climate of the past and the connections they have to extinct the woolly rhino and mammoth.

• The researchers found that the yak preferred a variety of food. A good diversity of pollen, spores and phytoliths (silica bodies found in plants) were observed.
  
  • This also indicated that the yak was able to modify its diet according to the climatic change of the past.
  • On the other hand, giant mammoth and woolly rhino which used to live with the yak about 18,000-20,000 years ago were not able to adapt to these changes and thus went extinct.
• The yak dung analysis also helped to map out the different plants and trees in that area, thus, generating modern botanical analogue of higher Himalayas.
• These animals mostly depend on the regional flora and studies can throw light on the past vegetation of an area,
• Across the globe, many researchers are working on fossilized dung of extinct animals. A comparison of the present results with the extinct ones can help understand more about ancestor climatic factors and other adaptation strategies of mega herbivores.