Page 151 - Prehistoric Animals

Woolly-Mam-Muth-Us

Woolly-Mammuthus

Mammuthus primigenius or ‘Woolly’ Mammoth is an extinct species
of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene around 3 million to approxi-
mately 4,000 years ago. Its average size was about 3 to 4 metres in height
and its weight around 4 to 6 tonnes. However, as it was dispersed widely
across Eurasia and North America sizes can vary, usually much smaller than
the average in some areas. The reason for this diversity in size – one Woolly
mammoth, found on Wrangal Island, USA, is labelled as dwarf size – is un-
known.

First named by, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, Elephas primigenius,
in 1799, it was later changed to its present name by, Joshua Brookes, in 1828
when he created the Mammuthus genus. Although, the Woolly mammoth, in
its shape, looked, and its behaviour was similar to the modern day Ele-
phants, the cold environment it lived in had resulted in certain physical dif-
ferences. One of course, is its ‘woolly’ long haired coat. This hair could grow
to over 12in long and varied in colour depth from one animal to the next,
from a dark to a much lighter colour. Hidden beneath this long outer coat
was a denser short hair inner coat; ensuring the maximum warmth. Its skin
was relatively thin but beneath it, adding additional insulation was a thick
lair of fat. This fat could also be used to help it through lean times when food
was scares. Its ears were also much smaller than its modern counterparts;
this helped reduce the surface area exposed to the cold climate. It had a typi-
cal elephant’s short tail which they used to swat flies. However, the Woolly
mammoth had a small addition to its tail. On the tip was a large clump of
long hair which it used to great effect, keeping its backside fly free. Its trunk
too was likened to all Elephants. However, the woolly mammoth had perfect-
ed a slightly different way to use it. While most elephants wrap their trunk
around plants and heavy foliage to pull it free, in the spars and frozen tundra inhabited by the woolly
mammoth it used the stubby fingered tip of its trunk to grab and pull small plants from the frozen
ground. Fossil evidence has shown its long upward sweeping tusks, thought to have been used for dis-
play, warding off danger and clashing with other males for group supremacy, were also used for dig-
ging in the hard ground, a practice not typical of the modern day elephant. Excessive ware and
scratches found on the ends of fossilised tusks are a clear indication the Woolly mammoth was using
them to dig into the ground or clear frozen snow or ice to gain access to buried vegetation.

For thousands of years the Woolly mammoth shared its environment with man. Ancient cave
paintings of the Woolly mammoth clearly demonstrate early man’s fascination and his dependency on
this big hairy animal. He would have hunted the Woolly mammoth for es-
sential food and used its tusks for making tools, weapons, jewellery and
small carvings. However, there is no outright proof that he was responsible
for its disappearance. Some disagree with this saying man was directly re-
sponsible; while others think it was the new animals he introduced into its
environment that brought in deceases the Woolly mammoth had no de-
fence against. Whatever the real reason, it’s thought the last Woolly mam-
moths died out around 4000 years ago and the species entered the record
books as extinct.