Mammoths at a glance
Ben Garrod answers 10 questions on the big beasts
How many species of mammoth are known to us?
There are currently 10 recognised species, though classification is always being refined and updated.
What did they feed on?
Mammoths were herbivores. Depending on the species and their location, they ate a range of vegetation, from cacti and flowers, to herbs, grasses, shrubs and trees, such as larch and alder.
When did they live?
The earliest species appeared about 5 million years ago in southern Africa, with the last species dying out about 4,000 years ago, and maybe even as recently as 3,700 years before the present day.
Where did they live?
Mammoths were found across Asia, Europe, North America and Africa.
Where were the last remaining populations of these mammals?
On Wrangel Island, off the Russian coast and in the Arctic Ocean. They were cut off from the mainland by rising sea levels.
How large was the largest mammoth?
The largest species of mammoth, the steppe mammoth, reached a height of up to 4.5m at the shoulder. Estimates vary, but it is thought that they could have weighed as much as 10 tonnes (and possibly as much as 14.3 tonnes!).
For how long did our human ancestors and mammoths coexist?
The earliest evidence of people and mammoths interacting comes from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, from 1.8 million years ago, where Homo erectus appears to have eaten African mammoths – but we don’t know whether this was from hunting or scavenging. Humans either hunted or scavenged on mammoths right up until the death of the very last animal, it seems.
What caused mammoths to die out in the end?
A single cause of the extinction of the mammoths has yet to be agreed upon, though it is likely to be a combination of long-term changes in the climate and the subsequent impact on food availability, and hunting. Humans would have undoubtedly contributed to the pressures on the various species of mammoth, and may have played a significant role in the extinction of some local populations.
What’s the difference between mammoths and mastodons?
Mastodons (prehistoric relatives of today’s elephants), mammoths and elephants are all very closely related in terms of their anatomy and genetics. Along with gomphotheres and stegodons, they form part of the taxonomic order Proboscidea.
Which habitats are mammoths best preserved in?
Sites that show little disturbance, where little or no decomposition can occur, such as ice and permafrost, and in areas where remains were covered by slow-flowing sediment in freshwater environments.