The wooly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) belongs to the same family as modern day African and Asian elephants. Fossil evidence show that the earliest mammals lived around 4 billion years ago around several places in Africa and around 3.5 billion years ago they expanded across Europe. The wooly mammoth is one of several species of mammoth. Other species include:
- Southern Mammoth: Mammuthus meridionalis – Eurasia and North America
- Columbian Mammoth: Mammuthus columbi – North and Central America
- Steppe Mammoth: Mammuthus trogontherii or Mammuthus americanus – Western Eurasia
- Dwarf Mammoth: Mammuthus exilis – Channel Islands
Taxonomy of the wooly mammoth is:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Proboscidea
- Family: Elephantidae
- Genus: Mammuthus
- Species: M. primigenius
Wooly Mammoth Behaviour and Habitat
Wooly mammoths most likely lived like modern day elephants in sex-segregated herds in dry cold steppes and grasslands. The ‘mammoth steppes’ extended from Western Europe through Siberia and north-central United States through to Southern Canada. Due to short growing seasons of mammoth steppes it is thought that the wooly mammoth would mate and give birth when food was readily available and possibly migrate to other areas when resources were low.
Wooly Mammoth Physical and Physiological Characteristics
The wooly mammoth was roughly the same size as the Asian elephant, with a height of 2.8 – 3.4m (9-11ft) and weight of 4-6 tons. The hind legs of the wooly mammoth were shorter than the fore legs giving the animal a slopping back. The skull also had a prominent dome on top and was much narrower than modern elephant skulls.
Wooly mammoths also had large curved tusks up to 5m (16ft) in length, which they used to shovel snow to reach vegetation underneath and also in male-to-male competition. The wooly mammoth derived its name from its coat, which was a dense layer of fine wool underneath an outer layer of longer, coarser guard hairs.
In addition to their wooly coats, mammoth ears tended to be much smaller than modern day elephants as a way to retain body heat. They also had a thick layer of fat under the skin and many oil secreting sebaceous glands which would coat their hair making it a good insulator.
Wooly mammoths also had an interesting physiological adaptation to help deal with the freezing cold climate. Mammoths had a type of ‘biological antifreeze’, three mutations in their hemoglobin, which improved oxygen dispersion around the body to prevent freezing.
Wooly mammoth extinction occurred as a result of climate change and from being hunted by humans. Fossil evidence suggests that the large mammoths died out around 10,000 years ago and the dwarf breeds having died out approximately 4,700 years ago.
For more information visit The Academy of Natural Sciences.
Roberta Goli - Roberta has a Bachelor of Science Degree (Zoology), has worked with animals for over 10 years and enjoys writing short stories and flash ...
