Is This Genuine Mammoth Hair?
I have been wanting a sample of mammoth hair of quite a long time. However, even with small and inexpensive samples, I am concerned about authenticity. There is a seller on eBay selling samples of mammoth hair in grams. Each gram seems like a decent sample, so I am tempted. However, I am not sure of the hair's authenticity.
Since the pictures are too big to use as attachments, I have linked to them:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFg4MDA=/z/jXkAAOxyJypTlcmk/$_57.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/O
This may help a bit.
Woolly mammoths had a dual coat consisting of fine inner hairs plus coarse outer “guard hairs”. The hairs of the inner coat were slightly curly, around 8 centimetres or so in length when stretched out, with a diameter of about 50 microns. The guard hairs were typically 30-90 centimetres long (depending on the age of the animal and the body area) with a diameter of about 500 microns. The tail also had long hairs which were thicker still.
Mammoths moulted in the spring and g
