Woolly mammoth

Woolly mammoth
Mammuthus primigenius, Blumenbach, 1799

number on the map: 37

Class: Mammalia

An extinct species from the Proboscidea order. It was the only mammoth whose skin was covered with dense fur. It lived in Europe, Asia and North America during the Pleistocene. In Europe, it became extinct about 13,000 years ago, while in Northern Asia (mainly Siberia) it lasted a bit longer. Mammoths were herbivores. Their diet consisted mainly of grasses, herbs, shrubs and trees, and to a lesser extent mosses and lichens. They fed in a similar way to elephants: by picking up food with their trunks and grinding it with their massive molar teeth. The tusks (modified incisors) grew throughout the entire life of a mammoth (about 2.5–15 cm per year) and could reach the length of 5 metres.

body length: 2,75–3,4 m
body mass: 4 000–6 000 kg
temporal range: 250–10 tya