Woolly mammoth
| Woolly mammoths Temporal range: Pleistocene – Holocene | |
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| Woolly mammoths | |
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| Species: | †M. primigenius |
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| Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach, 1799) | |
The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is a species of mammoth that lived from the Pleistocene period until the last ones died in the Holocene epoch. Woolly mammoths are now extinct, so we cannot see them anymore. They were large elephants which lived during the ice ages. The animal is known from bones and frozen carcasses from northern North America and northern Eurasia. The best-preserved carcasses (including Yuka) were found in Siberia. These mammoths are perhaps the most well known and most iconic species of mammoth. This mammoth species was first recorded in deposits of a former glaciation in Eurasia, perhaps 150,000 years ago.[1][2] Their closest living relatives are Asian elephants.
Woolly mammoths coexisted with early humans, who hunted them, and their bones and tusks were used as tools, and dwellings. Mammoths were also hunted for food. The species disappeared from most of its range at the end of the Pleistocene (10,000 years ago), but a dwarfed race and small populations still lived on Wrangel Island until about 1700 BC.[3]
Cave paintings of the woolly mammoth have been found in caves in France and Spain.
Description
[change | change source]Height
[change | change source]Male mammoths can reach between 2.67 and 3.49 m (8 ft 9 in and 11 ft 5 in) and weigh between 3.9 and 8.2 t (3.8 and 8.1 long tons; 4.3 and 9.0 short tons). Females can reach 2.3–2.6 m (7 ft 7 in – 8 ft 6 in) in shoulder heights and weigh between 2.8–4 t (2.8–3.9 long tons; 3.1–4.4 short tons). A calf weighs about 90 kg (200 lb).
Coat
[change | change source]A woolly mammoth's coat could easily adapt to the chilly conditions during glacial periods. This coat was covered with thick fur to keep themselves warm in the cold weather.
Resurrection
[change | change source]Scientists are currently working to resurrect the woolly mammoth (make it no longer extinct). In 2003, the Pyrenean ibex (also called a bucardo) was briefly resurrected when a clone of it was made, but the clone died several minutes after birth due to a lung defect.[4] This success has made some people hopeful that cloning could work for woolly mammoths as well, but many other problems would need to be solved first.
Notable specimens
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Yuka the mammoth
[change | change source]Yuka is a preserved woolly mammoth discovered by local Siberian tusk hunters in August 2010 and also had a broken hind leg, which likely occurred as it tried to escape and fell.[5]
Lyuba the mammoth
[change | change source]Lyuba is another well-known mammoth. She was formerly the best preserved mammoth mummy in the world (now held by Yuka).
Yukagir Mammoth
[change | change source]The Yukagir Mammoth is a frozen adult male woolly mammoth discovered in 2002 in northern Yakutia and is considered a exceptional discovery.[6] The specimen is named after the Siberian village of Yukagir near where it was found.[7]
In popular culture
[change | change source]Woolly mammoths are popular creatures nowadays, appearing in many media, including animated movies. One notable example is the 2002 movie Ice Age, in which there is a mammoth named Manny, who is a major character.
Related pages
[change | change source]- Mastodon – a distantly related taxon to mammoths
- Steppe mammoth
- Mammuthus meridionalis
- Columbian mammoth
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre - Woolly Mammoth". www.beringia.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ↑ Lister A.M.; Sher A.V.; Van Essen H.; Wei G. 2005. The pattern and process of mammoth evolution in Eurasia. Quaternary International. 126–128: 49–64.
- ↑ Nowak, Ronald M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801857899.
- ↑ "First birth of an animal from an extinct subspecies (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica) by cloning". Theriogenology.
- ↑ Yirka, Bob (5 April 2012). "Well preserved mammoth from Siberia shows signs of early man stealing from lions". Phys.org.
- ↑ "The Yukagir Mammoth: Brief History, 14c dates, individual age, gender, size, physical and environmental conditions and storage" (PDF). Scientific Annals, School of Geology Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
- ↑ ""NOVA | scienceNOW | A Mammoth Waste of Time image 2 | PBS". www.pbs.org. Archived from the original on 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
Other websites
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Media related to Woolly mammoth at Wikimedia Commons
- Natural History Museum: "The last of the mammoths" – three-minute video about the extinction of the woolly mammoth, presented by Adrian Lister
- National Geographic: "Mammoth tusk treasure hunt" – two-minute video about mammoth tusk collecting in modern Siberia