mammoth

Extinct elephant, remains of which have been found worldwide. Some were 50% taller than modern elephants; others were much smaller. (Genus Mammuthus (or Elephas).)

The woolly mammoth (M. primigenius) of northern zones, the size of an Indian elephant, had long fur and large inward-curving tusks. Various species of mammoth were abundant in both the Old World and the New World in Pleistocene times, and were hunted by humans for food.

A mammoth's fossil, which may be the best preserved ever found, was discovered in April 1999 at the Eastside Reservoir, near Los Angeles, California. The animal, apparently a young adult female, died about 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. A great number of ice-age fossils have been found at the site during a $2.2 billion research programme coordinated by the San Bernardino County Museum.