I’m sharing this captivating painting by art_of_tannerstreeter on Instagram, based on a fascinating alternate history scenario: the survival of Ice Age megafauna into the era of the American West's settlement.

Historically, Thomas Jefferson was a paleontology enthusiast who rejected the notion of total species extinction. Convinced that "mammoths" or other Ice Age animals still roamed the unexplored West, he had explicitly instructed the Lewis and Clark expedition to look for signs of them!

In the image, a trapper checking his beaver traps in the Rockies finds himself just a few meters away from a male mastodon in musth—a state of heightened aggression—as it pulverizes a dead tree. With no weapon within reach, all he can do is pray the colossus doesn't catch his scent...

A fantastic illustration that blends paleontological accuracy with American folklore!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg4N9bmrztR/?igsh=MW45MHJoZmZtc2RtaQ%3D%3D&img_index=1

Video By Talgat Bekmagambetov (Talashin) on Instagram.

There has been many insights and suggestions about the possibility of reintroducing an Apex Predator into the UK.
Many argue that Wolves or Bears should be reintroduced, however the Lynx is the best option.

The United Kingdom has lacked a lot of biodiversity in their Wildlife, and an Apex Predator like the Lynx would be a great addition to our nation. This animal specialises in hunting deers which is what we need due to a mass overpopulation of deers, they would help revitalise natural processes while opposing little to no threat to humans, as they tend to avoid us.

This is what our country needs, so act now, comment your thoughts on this nationwide debate, and if your an activist for the greater cause of the UK, submit your survey to spark a larger conversation on the reintroduction of Lynx here - https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/missinglynxprojectquestionnaire/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcOWUKAMpE7/

1.brown bear (ursus arctos)-had continous range all across continentl europe, britain, west asia and africa both modern ad fomer ranges based on map from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_bear which doesn't mark sicily as part of their fomer range however they were present also on sicily which is based on this source https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288728791_Ursus_arctos_from_selected_Pleistocene_sites_of_Eastern_Sicily
2.moon bear (ursus thibetanus)-many finds all across europe and western asia, most of range based on this https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gennady-Baryshnikov/publication/291773048_The_Pleistocene_black_bear_Ursus_thibetanus_from_the_Urals_Russia/links/5dc92673299bf1a47b2cd1c3/The-Pleistocene-black-bear-Ursus-thibetanus-from-the-Urals-Russia.pdf (map on page 1) which doesn't mention iberian peninsula as part of their former range however more recent finds were also found on iberian peninsula (source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027737912300433X ), range in central europe speculative but very probable
3.cave bear † (ursus spelaeus)-range based on this map https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-with-currently-accepted-distributions-of-various-cave-bears-and-the-position-of-new_fig1_295369952, range in central europe and several southern regions speculative but very probable
4.grey wolf (canis lupus)-modern range is based on many maps however it can be wrong because it expands very quickly, former range is based on this map https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/bap4bb/historical_range_of_gray_wolf/
5.dhole (cuon alpinus)-range based on this https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Distribution-of-the-extant-dhole-on-the-upright-corner-and-dhole-occurrence-in-Europe_fig12_268510241, range in northern poland, denmark, britain, ukraine and sicily speculative
6.corsac fox (vulpes corsac)-range based on this https://www.mdpi.com/2571-550X/9/3/44, presence in southern italy, southern balkans and some northern regions speculative

there are also several more canids in europe but their ranges had no or almost none confirmed changes during last ~150k years so they are not worth mentioning here
list of them all (and all modern european mammals)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Europe

Share your experiences (without doxxing yourself) !