Ice Age Animals Trivia

For most of human history, the world looked nothing like it does now. Glaciers covered huge stretches of the northern hemisphere, and the animals sharing that colder landscape with early humans were often bigger, hairier, and more heavily armed than anything alive today.

This quiz tests your knowledge of the mammoths, saber-toothed cats, giant sloths, and other Pleistocene giants that once ruled that world.

Giants Built for the Cold

Size and insulation were survival strategies during the Ice Age. Woolly mammoths and woolly rhinos carried thick coats and layers of fat to handle brutal temperatures, while giant ground sloths and glyptodons relied on sheer bulk and armor to fend off predators.

The Predators Waiting in the Wings

Where there's abundant prey, predators follow, and the Ice Age had some memorable ones:

• Smilodon, the saber-toothed cat, used its oversized canines to take down large, slow-moving prey
• Dire wolves hunted in packs across much of North America
• The giant short-faced bear stood taller than a grizzly and may have covered enormous distances chasing carrion

Most of these animals vanished within a few thousand years as the climate warmed and human hunters spread across their range, a one-two punch that few species that size could withstand.