The so-called “ice mouse” lived on the fringes of ancient Alaska. Likely guided by a keen sense of smell, it burrowed under leaf cover or underground for worms and insects. Above grew conifer trees, ferns, ancient herbs and horsetail plants.
Some 73 million years ago, it would have lived alongside other small mammals, birds and much larger dinosaurs. During that time, northern Alaska would have extended even further north, into the arctic. And for four months every winter, the Earth’s orbit would have plunged the region into darkness.
