
[Obsolete Russian mamut, mamot.]
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noun
adjective
A type of elephant (Mammuthus (Elephas) primigenius) now extinct but widespread throughout middle and higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere during the Pleistocene and early Holocene. Distinguished by its long hair, thick woolly under-fur, and long tusks which curved upwards and outwards, mammoth were probably the largest animals hunted by Palaeolithic (including Palaeo-Indian) hunters, although exactly how they were captured and killed is not known. The woolly mammoth became extinct c.10 000 bc.
We pictured old Noah with all his sons and daughters pushing, pulling some big mammoth aboard the ark.
— Elaine Christensen
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| Mammoth Temporal range: Early Pliocene to Middle Holocene, 5–0.0045 Ma |
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| Columbian mammoth in the Page Museum, Los Angeles | |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | Elephantidae |
| Genus: | †Mammuthus Brookes, 1828 |
| Type species | |
| †Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach, 1799 [originally Elephas]) |
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A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, proboscideans commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. They lived from the Pliocene epoch from around 5 million years ago, into the Holocene at about 4,500 years ago.[1][2] and were members of the family Elephantidae, which contains, along with mammoths, the two genera of modern elephants and their ancestors.
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The word "mammoth" comes from the Russian мамонт mamont, probably in turn from the Vogul (Mansi) language, mang ont, meaning "earth horn". The word first appeared in English in Richard James's Dictionariolum Russico-Anglicum of 1618.[3] In English, the noun "mammoth" also has become an adjective meaning "large" or "massive".
Like their modern relatives, mammoths were quite large. The largest known species reached heights in the region of 4 m (13 ft) at the shoulder and weights up to 8 tonnes (9 short tons), while exceptionally large males may have exceeded 12 tonnes (13 short tons). However, most species of mammoth were only about as large as a modern Asian elephant. Both sexes bore tusks. A first, small set appeared at about the age of six months and these were replaced at about eighteen months by the permanent set. Growth of the permanent set was at a rate of about 1 to 6 inches (2.5 to 15 cm) per year.[4]
Based on studies of their close relatives, the modern elephants, mammoths probably had a gestation period of 22 months, resulting in a single calf being born. Their social structure was probably the same as that of African and Asian elephants, with females living in herds headed by a matriarch, whilst bulls lived solitary lives or formed loose groups after sexual maturity.[5]
The woolly mammoth was the last species of the genus. Most populations of the woolly mammoth in North America and Eurasia, as well all the Columbian mammoths in North America, died out around the time of the last glacial retreat, as part of a mass extinction of megafauna in northern Eurasia and the Americas. Until recently, the last woolly mammoths were generally assumed to have vanished from Europe and southern Siberia about 12,000 years ago, but new findings show some were still present there about 10,000 years ago. Slightly later, the woolly mammoths also disappeared from continental northern Siberia.[6] A small population survived on St. Paul Island, Alaska, up until 3750 BCE,[2][7][8] and the small[9] mammoths of Wrangel Island survived until 1650 BCE.[10][11] Recent research of sediments in Alaska indicates mammoths survived on the American mainland until 10,000 years ago.[12]
A definitive explanation for their mass extinction has yet to be agreed upon. The warming trend (Holocene) that occurred 12,000 years ago, accompanied by a glacial retreat and rising sea levels, has been suggested as a contributing factor. Forests replaced open woodlands and grasslands across the continent. The available habitat may have been reduced for some megafaunal species, such as the mammoth. However, such climate changes were nothing new; numerous very similar warming episodes had occurred previously within the ice age of the last several million years without producing comparable megafaunal extinctions, so climate alone is unlikely to have played a decisive role.[13][14] The spread of advanced human hunters through northern Eurasia and the Americas around the time of the extinctions was a new development, and thus might have contributed significantly.[13][14]
Whether the general mammoth population died out for climatic reasons or due to overhunting by humans is controversial.[15] Another theory suggests mammoths may have fallen victim to an infectious disease. A combination of climate change and hunting by humans may be a possible explanation for their extinction. Homo erectus is known to have consumed mammoth meat as early as 1.8 million years ago.[16] A site in Ukraine suggests Neanderthals built dwellings using mammoth bones.[17]
However, the American Institute of Biological Sciences also notes bones of dead elephants, left on the ground and subsequently trampled by other elephants, tend to bear marks resembling butchery marks, which have previously been misinterpreted as such by archaeologists.[citation needed]
Dwarfing occurred with the pygmy mammoth on the outer Channel Islands of California, but at an earlier period. Those animals were very likely killed by early Paleo-Native Americans, and habitat loss caused by a rising sea level that split Santa Rosae into the outer Channel Islands.[citation needed]
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| Wikispecies has information related to: Mammuthus |
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - [zool.] mammut
adj. - vældig, kæmpe, uhyre
Nederlands (Dutch)
mammoet, reus, enorm, reuze
Français (French)
n. - (Zool) mammouth
adj. - gigantesque, géant
Deutsch (German)
n. - Mammut
adj. - Mammut-, riesig
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ζωολ.) μαμούθ, (μτφ.) μεγαθήριο
adj. - πελώριος, γιγαντιαίος
Italiano (Italian)
mastodontico, mammut
Português (Portuguese)
n. - mamute (m) (Zool.)
adj. - gigantesco
Русский (Russian)
мамонт, громадный
Español (Spanish)
n. - mamut
adj. - gigantesco, de mamut, de titanes, colosal
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mammut
adj. - kolossal, jätte-
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
长毛象, 庞然大物, 长毛象似的, 巨大的
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 長毛象, 龐然大物
adj. - 長毛象似的, 巨大的
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 매머드(거대한 코끼리), 거대한 것
adj. - 거대한
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - マンモス, 巨大なもの
adj. - 巨大な
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) ضرب من ضروب الفيله كبيرة الحجم (صفه) كبير, ضخم
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ממותה
adj. - כביר, ענקי
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