Animal Profiles
Mammals

Woolly Mammoth

Mammuthus primigenius

Extinct

This animal is extinct. No living individuals remain.

Status source

The woolly mammoth was an Ice Age elephant relative adapted to cold open landscapes. Long hair, small ears and curved tusks distinguish it from the living elephants that share its family.

Woolly Mammoth, AI-generated lifelike reconstruction
AI-generated reconstruction. Colors and soft tissues are interpretive.

At a glance

Habitat
Grassland, Tundra
Diet
Herbivore
Food
Grasses and other vegetation.

Classification

Common name
Woolly Mammoth
Browse group
Mammals
Scientific name or taxon
Mammuthus primigenius
Taxon rank
species
Order
Proboscidea
Family
Elephantidae
Genus
Mammuthus
Source classification
Mammalia

Taxonomy checked against GBIF. For breeds and hybrids, this describes the listed parent taxon.

Three things to know

  • It was a relative of living elephants.
  • Its ears were small for an elephant relative.
  • Some island populations survived after mainland extinction.

Habitat and range

Woolly mammoths spread across Eurasia and into North America. Their cold steppe habitats still supported abundant vegetation rather than permanent deep snow. Late populations survived on isolated northern islands.

Appearance and adaptations

A hairy coat, small ears, short tail and high shoulders helped shape the familiar outline. Tusks curved in a spiral, and preserved remains provide evidence beyond the bones alone.

Diet and behaviour

Vegetation supplied food. Climate and habitat change, together with possible human effects, contributed to population decline, but the relative causes remain debated. The last isolated populations outlasted those on the mainland.

Sources

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