Maybe it wasn't quite as instantaneous as we imagine. Thinking of the way herbivores eat, don't they chew for a long time? And they don't sleep for long stretchs either, but doze (I think).
I chew much longer than average and I don't sleep for more than 3-4 hours straight (sorry, TMI?); and I find myself falling asleep while chewing.
Maybe these mammoths were frozen overnight (or at least over a few hours).
Another idea is that if I were a mammoth, faced with the feeling i was about to freeze to death, I might start eating (hoping to generate a little warmth from bacterial decomposition). -i'm such a smart mammoth!
~samwik
P.S. Isn't this a good example of a thread that maybe should be moved over to "not-quite-sci;" or maybe duplicated over there. After duplication, that new thread could go on speculating, and the this original could get back to discussing whatever this thread started with -ice?
AND it'd be nice to put this "P.S." in a side-bar & also add it to the other thread re: (now I can't go look at the title without losing all my typing here, so I'll call it) Climate Change Forum Modifications
Hint, hint....
~S
