How do we find out what Earth looked like during the Ice Age? Did mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses roam around Germany? And what does all this have to do with an ancient piece of hyena dung? A new video from the University of Konstanz explains how even inconspicuous remains such as nearly fossilized excrements or mud from Lake Constance can provide valuable insight into past ecosystems – with the help of genetic analyses.

The video centres around the work of environmental genomicist Laura Epp from the University of Konstanz, who studies traces of extinct animal species like the European woolly rhinoceros. The short animated film is particularly aimed at families and kids – and is free for use under CC BY-ND 4.0 licence, for example in educational contexts, school classes, film and TV or public screenings.

Open Educational Resources: „Ein Häufchen Detektivarbeit – Wie das Wollnashorn an den Bodensee kam“

The film "Ein Häufchen Detektivarbeit" explains how woolly rhinoceroses came to Lake Constance and is freely available on the University of Konstanz's YouTube channel. It can also be shared and used freely, but the video and audio cannot be altered (CC BY-ND 4.0; © University of Konstanz). The video is available for download from the University of Konstanz cloud.