MAMMOTHS Giants of the early world.

Characteristics and short facts of the mammoth. Mammoth were extinct elephant-like animals. These massive herbivores had long, dense hair that was used to keep them warm during the cold weather. They had large ears (but much smaller than an elephants), a long trunk, and two long and sharp tusks. Both the males and the females had tusks. Mammoths lived from about 2 million years ago to 9,000 years ago, (during the last ice age). These huge mammals lived throughout the world. The different breeds of mammoths were about 9 ft tall to over 15 ft tall. Some species had tusks that were straight, and some had tusks that were curved. The longest tusks that have so far been found were over 17 feet long. The tusks were used in mating rituals, for protection, and for digging in the snow for food. Most known mammoths would normally weigh in the region of 6 to 8 tons, but the large males could have surpassed 12 tons. Most species of mammoth were only about as large as todays Asian elephant.

Breeds of Mammoth The largest known species, Songhua River Mammoth, reached heights of at least 16 feet at the shoulder. The African mammoth is the oldest of mammoth species. It first appeared around 4.8 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in Pliocene deposits in Chad, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The Columbian mammoth was also very large in size. Fossils of the dwarf mammoth have been found on the Californian Channel Islands and the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. It was the last species to survive. The species survived until 1,650 BC. There was also a race of dwarf mammoths located on Wrangel Island, north of Siberia, within the Arctic Circle. Most populations of the woolly mammoth in North America and Eurasia,, died out around the same time. That time is Known as the last glacial retreat. It was a mass extinction. Until recently, it was assumed that the last woolly mammoths vanished from Europe and southern Siberia about 10,000 BC, but evidence shows that some of them were still alive around 8000 BC. Shortly after, the woolly mammoths also disappeared from continental northern Siberia. A small population survived on St. Paul Island, Alaska, up until 3,750 BC.

Diet Mammoths ate leaves off of trees as well as a variety of plants and shrubs. Their diet was much like the diet of one of today’s elephants.

Presently…. Mammoths are currently extinct, I say currently because scientists are working on ways to clone these giants. Most remains found of the mammoth did not have enough DNA to extract in order to create a clone but recently remains with enough genetic material were discovered. Unlike the dinosaur extinction of 65 million years ago, nobody has found evidence of a single large meteorite strike to explain the extinction of the mammoths except over hunting by the human population.

Extinction to recreation There is strong evidence that humans had a large role in mammoth extinction, at least in North America. If humans were a main cause in mammoth extinction, maybe our newly created human technology would compensate by allowing them to once again walk the Earth. Imagine driving down the highway and seeing a mammoth??? A elephant can carry the baby mammoth until it is birthed where then scientists will study it as well as the surrogate elephant mother.

Websites to check out for more facts. mmothfacts.htm mmothfacts.htm m m