Portal:Paleontology/Natural world articles/120

Skeletal mount of Columbian mammoth

The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was a species of mammoth that inhabited North America as far north as the northern United States and as far south as Costa Rica during the Pleistocene epoch. The Columbian mammoth evolved from the steppe mammoth, which entered North America from Asia about 1.5 million years ago. The pygmy mammoths of the Channel Islands (California) evolved from Columbian mammoths. The closest extant relative of the Columbian and other mammoths is the Asian elephant.

Reaching 4 m (13 ft) at the shoulders and 8–10 tonnes (18,000–22,000 lb) in weight, the Columbian mammoth was one of the largest species of mammoth. It most likely used its tusks and trunk like modern elephants—for manipulating objects, fighting, and foraging. The Columbian mammoth preferred open areas, such as parkland landscapes, and fed on sedge, grass, and other plants. Genetic evidence suggests that they interbred with wooly mammoths.

Before they went extinct, Columbian mammoths coexisted in North America for a few thousand years with Palaeoamericans, who hunted them for food, used their bones for making tools, and depicted them in ancient art. Columbian mammoth remains have been found in association with Clovis culture artefacts; these remains may have stemmed either from hunting or from scavenging. The Columbian mammoth disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene around 11,000 years ago, most likely as a result of habitat loss caused by climate change, hunting by humans, or a combination of both. (see more...)