Wolly Mammoths.....in Ancient Egypt?

One consideration is the skill of the artist. In the wider view (4th image down) the Egyptian men in the upper right are pictured 80% as tall as a giraffe. Along with the man hip to hip with the haunches of the horse and the giraffe, one speculation that comes to mind is that the artist had no sense of proportion. The pachyderm is certainly pictured as if it is a baby one, the way the leash is shown. I can't argue that. But what is with the giraffe and horse? So many animals out of normal scale (to our thinking) suggests it is an artifact of the artist, though. This link is from Wikipedia, elephas falconeri (shoulder height = 3 feet): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elephas_falconeri.jpg I would suggest there is a really close resemblance to the one in the mural. The high ear position appears the same. The pointed skull also. The tusks are virtually identical. You might have a tough time convincing some people they aren't one and the same. BTW, when I enlarge that image the "bear" looks quite a bit like a cougar. But is that also a penguin in there? One more thing: Egyptian art did depict extinct crocodiles. Just as we kept the last of the Tasmanian tigers and passenger pigeons in captivity, it is altogether possible the Egyptians could have done that with other nearly extinct animals, too. All of the animals portrayed appear to be domesticated. Any ideas on the penguin?

Hi - thanks for writing about my article, I'm glad you found it interesting. I have to say, however, that I feel it's a bit odd to re-post my entire article, pictures and everything - isn't it more usual to post a link?

Hello, Darren. It is a little unusual, but not unique. In fact I found it in whole here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2660273/posts. That site has 100x the readership of my blog. Given the brevity of your piece, the fact that I am most decidedly a non-profit, and I provided links (and will do more): Do you agree to the post?

Hi. It isn't about profit/non-profit - I just consider it poor netiquette to post someone else's article in full (with all the pictures), especially without an obvious link back to the source (I cannot see a link to Tetrapod Zoology anywhere on your page). As I'm sure you understand, if people want to read my article, I obviously want them to do so on my site. But, whatever, I don't want to seem unreasonable, so let's leave it there. Like I said, I'm pleased you're interested. ps - you have my name spelt wrong.

Hi Darren - Very nice. I think you want to look closely at the dress and other trade goods shown in the mural for clues as to what was represented. The pottery styles and clothing styles may provide some real clues. Is there a larger image of the mural available?

Ed - A slightly larger image: http://comps.fotosearch.com/bigcomps/IST/IST527/2330239.jpg A zoomed in somewhat larger image of the elephant/mammoth: http://www.archaeologydaily.com/news/fotos/image5998_b.jpg I see no reason not to stand behind my assessment that the animal is the spitting image of the elphas falconeri. It seems clear to me. See my comment above. Three feet at the shoulder? Same on both. Pointed skull? Same on both. Long curved, seemingly outsized and precocious tusks? Same on both. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Elephas_falconeri.jpg/220px-Elephas_falconeri.jpg