Extinct species of mammoth from the Quaternary period
Woolly mammoth
Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene – Late Holocene 0.40–0.0037 Ma
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Largest European specimen, a male at Südostbayerisches Naturkunde- und Mammut-Museum, Siegsdorf
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Proboscidea
Family:
Elephantidae
Genus:
†Mammuthus
Species:
†M. primigenius
Binomial name
†Mammuthus primigenius
(Blumenbach, 1799)
Dymaxion map showing the Late Pleistocene distribution of M. primigenius in blue (light blue was land at the time), inferred from fossil finds
Synonyms
List:
Elephas primigenius Blumenbach, 1799
Elephas mammonteus Cuvier, 1799
Mammuthus boreus Brookes, 1828
Mammonteus primigenius Osborn, 1924
Elephas boreus Hay, 1924
The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is an extinct species of mammoth that lived from the Middle Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with the African Mammuthus subplanifrons in the early Pliocene. The woolly mammoth began to diverge from the steppe mammoth about 800,000 years ago in Siberia. Its closest extant relative is the Asian elephant. The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) lived alongside the woolly mammoth in North America, and DNA studies show that the two hybridised with each other.
The appearance and behaviour of this species are among the best studied of any prehistoric animal because of the discovery of frozen carcasses in Siberia and North America, as well as skeletons, teeth, stomach contents, dung, and depiction from life in prehistoric cave paintings. Mammoth remains had long been known in Asia before they became known to Europeans in the 17th century. The origin of these remains was long a matter of debate, and often explained as being remains of legendary creatures. The mammoth was identified as an extinct species of elephant by Georges Cuvier in 1796.
The woolly mammoth was roughly the same size as modern African elephants. Males reached shoulder heights between 2.67 and 3.49 m (8.8 and 11.5 ft) and weighed between 3.9 and 8.2 metric tons (4.3 and 9.0 short tons). Females reached 2.3–2.6 m (7.5–8.5 ft) in shoulder heights and weighed between 2.8–4 metric tons (3.1–4.4 short tons). A newborn calf weighed about 90 kg (200 lb). The woolly mammoth was well adapted to the cold environment during the last ice age. It was covered in fur, with an outer covering of long guard hairs and a shorter undercoat. The colour of the coat varied from dark to light. The ears and tail were short to minimise frostbite and heat loss. It had long, curved tusks and four molars, which were replaced six times during the lifetime of an individual. Its behaviour was similar to that of modern elephants, and it used its tusks and trunk for manipulating objects, fighting, and foraging. The diet of the woolly mammoth was mainly grasses and sedges. Individuals could probably reach the age of 60. Its habitat was the mammoth steppe, which stretched across northern Eurasia and North America.
The woolly mammoth coexisted with early humans, who used its bones and tusks for making art, tools, and dwellings, and hunted the species for food. The population of woolly mammoths declined at the end of the Late Pleistocene, with the last populations on mainland Siberia persisting until around 10,000 years ago, although isolated populations survived on St. Paul Island until 5,600 years ago, and on Wrangel Island until 4,000 years ago. After its extinction, humans continued using its ivory as a raw material, a tradition that continues today. With a genome project for the mammoth completed in 2015, it has been proposed the species could be revived through various means, but none of the methods proposed are yet feasible.
The woollymammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is an extinct species of mammoth that lived from the Middle Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene...
The revival of the woollymammoth is a proposed hypothetical that frozen soft-tissue remains and DNA from extinct woollymammoths could be a means of regenerating...
3 million years ago, becoming ancestral to the Columbian mammoth (M. columbi). The woollymammoth (M. primigenius), evolved about 700–400,000 years ago in...
reindeer, muskox, saiga antelope, steppe bison, horses, woolly rhinoceros and woollymammoth. These herbivores, in turn, were followed and preyed upon...
hybridisation with the woollymammoth lineage. The Columbian mammoth was among the last mammoth species, and the pygmy mammoths evolved from them on the...
The woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), simply known as woolly rhino, is an extinct species of rhinoceros that inhabited northern Eurasia during...
months. Wrangel Island was home to the last surviving population of woollymammoths, with radiocarbon dating suggesting the species persisted on the island...
around 1 to 0.7 million years ago. It was the ancestor of the woollymammoth and Columbian mammoth of the later Pleistocene. There was historically confusion...
The Yukagir Mammoth is a frozen adult male woollymammoth specimen found in the autumn of 2002 in northern Yakutia, Arctic Siberia, Russia, and is considered...
aliases, spouses and the character's species. Manfred "Manny" is a woollymammoth in all five Ice Age films. His personality is shown to be aloof, grumpy...
WoollyMammoth Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company located at 641 D Street NW in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded...
The Jarkov Mammoth (named for the family who discovered it), is a woollymammoth specimen discovered on the Taymyr Peninsula of Siberia by a nine-year-old...
, Coppens, Y. and Agenbroad, L.D., 2001. The Fishhook Mammoth: rediscovery of a woollymammoth carcass by the CERPOLEX/Mammuthus Team, Taimyr Peninsula...
working to de-extinct the woollymammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo. In 2023, it stated that it wants to have woollymammoth hybrid calves by 2028...
Fall in Mammoth, CA | the 2,100-Vertical-Foot Mammoth Mega Zip". 2018-06-27. "Woolly's Parade and Meet Woolly | Mammoth Mountain Resort". "Mammoth Mountain's...
Harbin individual inhabited a cold, steppeland environment alongside the woollymammoth, giant deer, Przewalski's horse, elk, buffalo, and brown bear. Harbin...
1981, Gardner was an actor in the Washington, D.C. region, working at WoollyMammoth Theatre Company under Howard Shalwitz. He won a number of lead actor...
once supported a dwarf species descended from Columbian mammoths, while the woollymammoths that existed on Wrangel Island north of Siberia were once...
Antilles long after North and South American ground sloths were extinct, woollymammoths died out on remote Wrangel Island 6,000 years after their extinction...
WoollyMammoth". New York Times. Carlson, Kara (9 March 2022). "Austin entrepreneur's startup lands $60 million as it tries to bring back the woolly mammoth"...
Olive Oyl appeared in the video game Popeye and the Quest For the WoollyMammoth, voiced by Cheryl Chase. In 1997–2004, Olive Oyl was voiced by Tress...
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