- These ancient relatives of elephants lived around 5 million years ago in many places around the world
What is the biggest animal that you can think of?
Name one similarity and one difference between woolly mammoths and Columbian mammoths.
What is the biggest animal that you can think of?
Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
Mammoths lived about 5 million years ago. They were huge relatives of today’s elephants. They mysteriously disappeared around 4,000 years ago. Scientists who study their fossils believe they lived in many places, including Africa, America, Asia and even Siberia.
These massive animals stood over three metres tall. They also had long curved tusks. There were many different types of mammoths, including woolly and Columbian mammoths. Both these types lived in North America.
Scientists studied the differences between these two species using their fossilised remains. This included their tusks and teeth (see graphic).
Scientists are trying to learn how the different types of mammoths evolved. They used to believe that Columbian mammoths evolved from Eurasian steppe mammoths. This was because they looked similar and had less fur than woolly mammoths.
However, new DNA clues suggest something interesting. Columbian mammoths might be a mix of woolly mammoths and an unknown type of ancient mammoth!
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Name one similarity and one difference between woolly mammoths and Columbian mammoths.