Woolly Mammoth from Mojo
The Woolly mammoth was the last of the extinct genus Mammuthus, proboscideans. They lived from the Pliocene epoch from around 5 million years ago, into the Holocene at about 4,500 years ago, and were members of the family Elephantidae, which contains, along with mammoths, the two genera of modern elephants and their ancestors.
Like their
modern relatives, mammoths were quite large – between 9 ft and 10 ft high, and
they had extremely long tusks — up to 5 m (16 ft) long.
Whether
the general mammoth population died out for climatic reasons or due to
overhunting by humans is controversial. Another theory suggests mammoths may
have fallen victim to an infectious disease. A combination of climate change
and hunting by humans may be a possible explanation for their extinction. Homo
erectus (early man) is known to have consumed mammoth meat as early as 1.8
million years ago. A site in Ukraine suggests Neanderthals built dwellings
using mammoth bones.
(Source:
WIKIPEDIA)
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