five major ice ages · All Facts

five major ice ages
Earth has experienced at least five major ice ages over the past 2.4 billion years. The most severe — the <hl>"Snowball Earth"</hl> events around 700 million years ago — may have frozen the entire planet from poles to equator.
SrcGeological Society of America

Next evidence →Woolly mammothsWoolly mammoths stood up to 11 feet tall at the shoulder and weighed roughly 6 tons. Their fur could grow over 3 feet long, and beneath it they had a thick layer of fat up to 4 inches deep for insulation against Arctic cold.

More packs

Dino
Body
Weird
Animals
Snakes
Insects
Ocean
Hidden Gems
Space
Mummies

More in Ice Age

ElasmotheriumThe Elasmotherium, nicknamed the "Siberian unicorn," was a massive Ice Age rhino that stood 6 feet at the shoulder and may have carried a single enormous horn up to 3 feet long. It survived until roughly 29,000 years ago.
Last Glacial MaximumDuring the Last Glacial Maximum (roughly 26,000–19,000 years ago), ice sheets up to 2 miles thick covered most of Canada, northern Europe, and Scandinavia. Sea levels dropped 400 feet, exposing vast areas of continental shelf.
Cave lionsCave lions were about 25% larger than modern African lions and roamed from Europe to Alaska across the Bering Land Bridge. Prehistoric cave paintings in France's Chauvet Cave depict them hunting in packs without manes.
originated in North AmericaHorses actually originated in North America around 55 million years ago and crossed the Bering Land Bridge into Asia. They went extinct in the Americas roughly 10,000 years ago and were only reintroduced by Spanish colonizers in the 1500s.

Open full Ice Age pack →

← Back to evidence