Woolly Mammoth Research Paper
Extinct Species
Woolly Mammoths
During the last Ice Age, there were many large, interesting mammals, such as the Woolly Mammoth. This animal has long since gone extinct and any knowledge on it is based on fossils and frozen carcasses. We have learned much about the Woolly Mammoth, almost more than any other dinosaur that has been identified. A Mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus and a sister genus to elephas. Woolly Mammoths were approximately 11 feet tall, had long tucks and weighed six to eight tons. Other than a couple details, a modern day visual comparison would be to the Savannah elephant.
Mammoths lived during the Pleistocene epoch from 1.6 million to approximately 10,000 years ago. There are multiple …show more content…
In comparison to other Mammoths it was medium sized, standing eleven feet tall and weighing six to eight tons. Male Mammoths were approximately three feet taller than females. Overall males were much larger and heavier than females. They also had larger and heavier skulls as well as bigger tusks. Male's tusks that were up to twelve feet long. The tusks of the Woolly Mammoth were much larger and denser than those of elephants today. There are a number of theories for this, some being that the mammoth had to use them to push away trees, or that they engaged in fighting a lot more than modern elephants. The tusks are also believed to have been used to move snow and ice to expose grass for consumption and used in mating rituals. The tusks were also more curved and spiraled. The head of the Woolly Mammoth was wide domed and it remotely resembled the African Elephant of today. However, because of adaptations to the jaw and teeth that aided in eating grass, the head was more vertical. Based on Fossils found we know that the they had a down slanting spine which gave them a slight hump. We also know based on dental adaptations that Mammoths were herbivore, grass eating, grazers. The Mammoth's trunk was about six feet long had two finger-like projections on the end. The Woolly Mammoth was also fully covered in a heavy coat of hair (even the trunk). The underfur grew from one to six inches while the longest
Woolly Mammoths
During the last Ice Age, there were many large, interesting mammals, such as the Woolly Mammoth. This animal has long since gone extinct and any knowledge on it is based on fossils and frozen carcasses. We have learned much about the Woolly Mammoth, almost more than any other dinosaur that has been identified. A Mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus and a sister genus to elephas. Woolly Mammoths were approximately 11 feet tall, had long tucks and weighed six to eight tons. Other than a couple details, a modern day visual comparison would be to the Savannah elephant.
Mammoths lived during the Pleistocene epoch from 1.6 million to approximately 10,000 years ago. There are multiple …show more content…
In comparison to other Mammoths it was medium sized, standing eleven feet tall and weighing six to eight tons. Male Mammoths were approximately three feet taller than females. Overall males were much larger and heavier than females. They also had larger and heavier skulls as well as bigger tusks. Male's tusks that were up to twelve feet long. The tusks of the Woolly Mammoth were much larger and denser than those of elephants today. There are a number of theories for this, some being that the mammoth had to use them to push away trees, or that they engaged in fighting a lot more than modern elephants. The tusks are also believed to have been used to move snow and ice to expose grass for consumption and used in mating rituals. The tusks were also more curved and spiraled. The head of the Woolly Mammoth was wide domed and it remotely resembled the African Elephant of today. However, because of adaptations to the jaw and teeth that aided in eating grass, the head was more vertical. Based on Fossils found we know that the they had a down slanting spine which gave them a slight hump. We also know based on dental adaptations that Mammoths were herbivore, grass eating, grazers. The Mammoth's trunk was about six feet long had two finger-like projections on the end. The Woolly Mammoth was also fully covered in a heavy coat of hair (even the trunk). The underfur grew from one to six inches while the longest