Mammuthus imperator
| Imperial Mammoth Fossil range: Pleistocene |
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Mammuthus imperator (Leidy, 1858) |
The Imperial Mammoth (Mammuthus imperator) was the largest known species of mammoth, reaching a height of 4.9 m (16 ft) at the shoulder. It ranged from Canada to New Mexico about 4.6 million - 17,000 years ago (Late Pleistocene). It was slightly larger than its more famous European cousins, the Woolly Mammoth, the Steppe mammoth and several others. Because it was much warmer in central and southwestern North America than in northern Eurasia, the Imperial Mammoth is not presumed to have a thick fur coat like its European relatives. It lived alongside the Jefferson's Mammoth (M. jeffersonii) and the Columbian Mammoth (M. columbi). The latter is often confused with M. imperator, because of its similar size and fossil range. The primary way to distinguish the two mammoths is that M. imperator's tusks curve to the point of overlap, whereas M. columbi's tusks do not. M. imperator was originally been described as a fossil species of Elephas by Joseph Leidy in 1858.[1]
Excellent fossils of the Imperial Mammoth have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits, in Southern California.[2]
References
- ^ Leidy, J. (1858). "Notices of remains of extinct vertebrata, from the Valley of the Niobrara River, collected during the Exploring Expedition of 1857, in Nebraska under the command of Lieut. G.K. Warren, U.S. Top. Eng. By F.V. Hayden, Geologist tothe Expedition.". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences,Philadelphia 10: 20–29.
- ^ Guenther, E. W. (1987). "Mammute und ihre Kümmerformen von Eurasien und Mexiko". Quartärpaläontologie 37/38: 13-51.
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