Ancient ground squirrels scavenged woolly mammoths for protein
After waking from eight months of hibernation, prehistoric squirrels in the Yukon became opportunistic scavengers, feasting on the carcasses of megafauna like mammoths and big cats.
Ground squirrels spend up to eight months of the year in a state of torpor, a deep hibernation-like slumber within their earthen burrows. When they finally emerge, they are biologically desperate for protein. While modern squirrels are often viewed as herbivores, their ancestors in the Pleistocene were far more opportunistic, acting as the zombies of their era by scavenging whatever high-quality nutrients they could find.
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