I think I was inspired by a documentary I saw years ago. Walking with Dinosaurs maybe ? It was about how, during prehistory, Antarctica was covered with forests that were lush during the summer and completely froze during the winter ! I found it amazing to imagine that. The dinosaurs that lived there were striped for camouflage in summer and had a beak to break the ice in winter (I don't know if that's true but that is what I like to imagine).