Prehistoric life
A great deal has been found out about woolly mammoths from analysis of carcasses frozen in the Siberian permafrost and from depictions in ancient art. They were built like elephants, but with adaptations to prevent heat loss - tiny ears, short tails and a thick coat of dark brown hair. On the underbelly, the hair grew up to a metre long and was probably shed in the summer. Their trunks ended with two 'fingers' that helped pluck grass. Humps of hair and fat behind the head made the shoulders seem higher than the pelvis. However, the front and back legs were actually about the same length.
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Born of the permafrost
Global warming is increasingly melting the permafrost, exposing fresh mammoth remains.
Global warming is increasingly melting the permafrost, exposing fresh mammoth remains.
Lyuba
Less than a year old at her time of death, 'Lyuba' is the best preserved mammoth ever found.
Less than a year old at her time of death, 'Lyuba' is the best preserved mammoth ever found.
Virtual time travel
Recreating mammoth haemoglobin reveals molecular level adaptations to the extremes of the Ice Age.
Kevin Campbell has recreated mammoth haemoglobin, revealing molecular level adaptations to the extremes of the Ice Age.
The Yuka Mammoth
Recent discoveries found in the Siberian wilderness could show tantalising links to early humans.
Brought to light by the BBC and Mammuthus, this specimen found in the Siberian wilderness could show tantalising links to early humans.
Woolly beasts
Great size was just one of the ways mammoths and rhinos survived ice age extremes.
Great size was just one of the ways mammoths and rhinos survived ice age extremes.
The following habitats are found across the Woolly mammoth distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Discover the other animals and plants that lived during the following geological time periods.
Ice ageOpisthokonta
The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), also called the tundra mammoth, was a species of mammoth. This animal is known from bones and frozen carcasses from northern North America and northern Eurasia with the best preserved carcasses in Siberia. They are perhaps the most well known species of mammoth.
This mammoth species was first recorded in (possibly 150,000 years old) deposits of the second last glaciation in Eurasia. It was derived from the steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogonotherii).
It disappeared from most of its range at the end of the Pleistocene (10,000 years ago), with an isolated population still living on Wrangel Island until roughly 1700 BC.
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Hierarchical
Acoustic communication
Herbivorous
Social
Cold tolerant
Adapted to running
Seed dispersal
Sexual dimorphism
Viviparous
