Columbian Mammoth

Columbian Mammoth Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
Columbian Mammoth in the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Family:	Elephantidae
Genus:	†Mammuthus
Species:	†M. columbi
Binomial name
Mammuthus columbi (Falconer, 1857)
Synonyms
Parelephas eellsi Parelephas floridanus Parelephas jacksoni Mammuthus jeffersonii Elephas maibeni Parelephas roosevelti Elephas washingtonii Parelephas progressus

The Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) is an extinct species of elephant of the Quaternary period that appeared in North America (in the present United States and to as far south as Nicaragua and Honduras) during the late Pleistocene. It is believed by some authorities^[1] to be the same species as its slightly larger cousin, M. imperator, because of their similarities in fossil location and size.^{[citation needed]}

The Columbian Mammoth was one of the last members of the American megafauna to go extinct, with the date of disappearance generally set at approximately 12,500 years ago.^[2] However, several specimens have been dated to 9,000 years ago or less and one near Nashville, Tennessee, was reliably dated to only about 7,800 years ago.^{[citation needed]}

Size

Restoration of a Columbian Mammoth

The Columbian mammoth was one of the largest of the mammoth species and also one of the largest elephants to have ever lived, measuring 4 metres (13 ft) tall and weighing up to 10 metric tons (11 short tons). It was 10.7 feet (3.3 m) long at the shoulder, and had a head that accounted for 12 to 25 percent of its body weight.^[3] It had impressive, spiralled tusks which typically extended to 6.5 feet (2.0 m). A pair of Columbian Mammoth tusks discovered in central Texas was the largest ever found for any member of the elephant family: 16 feet (4.9 m) long.^{[citation needed]}

It was a herbivore, with a diet consisting of varied plant life ranging from grasses to conifers. It is also theorized that the Columbian Mammoth ate the giant fruits of North America such as the Osage-orange, Kentucky coffee and Honey locust as there was no other large herbivore in North America then that could ingest these fruits. Using studies of African elephants, it has been estimated that a large male would have eaten approximately 700 pounds (320 kg) of plant material daily.^{[citation needed]} The average Columbian mammoth ate 300 pounds of vegetation a day.

Fossils

A juvenile Columbian Mammoth mandible in the permanent collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

The remains of Columbian Mammoths were discovered in the La Brea Tar Pits, located in Los Angeles, California, and the skeleton of one of them is on exhibit in that site's museum. The Waco Mammoth Site in Waco, TX holds the record for the largest known concentration of skeletons of mammoths believed to have died in the same event.^[4] This mammoth also lived in Mexico, where its remains are very common. A large individual is the central exhibit in the Regional Museum of Guadalajara, in the Mexican state of Jalisco.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, the Washington State Legislature approved the Columbian Mammoth as the State Fossil.^[5]

See also

	Extinction portal
	Paleontology portal
	Prehistoric mammals portal

• Mammoth
• Waco Mammoth Site

References

1. ^ A Mammoth Task -- Sorting Out Mammoth Evolution
2. ^ BBC - Science & Nature - Wildfacts - Columbian mammoth
3. ^ Mammoth Facts
4. ^ Official Waco Mammoth Site - Waco, Texas
5. ^ State Symbols

External links

• The Waco Mammoth Site
• Mammoth information from The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota