Wolly Mammoth

Mammuthus primigenius

Siberian Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)
Drawing of Elephas primigenius by Abel, 1912
Siberian Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) lectotype
The lectotype of Wolly Mammoth are two molars found in Siberia and Osterode

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is a species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch, and was identified as an extinct species of elephant 1796 by French biologist Georges Cuvier.

Mammoth remains had long been known in Asia before they became known to Europeans in the 17th century. The origin of these remains was long a matter of debate, and often explained as being remains of legendary creatures. Remains of various extinct elephants were generally interpreted, based on biblical accounts, as the remains of legendary creatures such as behemoths or giants. They were thought to be remains of modern elephants that had been brought to Europe during the Roman Republic, for example the war elephants of Hannibal Barca and Pyrrhus of Epirus, or animals that had wandered north.

In 1796, Georges Cuvier was the first to identify the woolly mammoth remains not as modern elephants transported to the Arctic, but as an entirely new species. He argued this species had gone extinct and no longer existed, a concept that was not widely accepted at the time. Following Cuvier's identification, German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach gave the woolly mammoth its scientific name, Elephas primigenius, in 1799, placing it in the same genus as the Asian elephant. This name is Latin for "the first-born elephant".

By the early 20th century, the taxonomy of extinct elephants was complex. In 1942, American palaoentologist Henry Fairfield Osborn's posthumous monograph on the Proboscidea was published, wherein he used various taxon names that had previously been proposed for mammoth species, including replacing Mammuthus with Mammonteus, as he believed the former name to be invalidly published. Mammoth taxonomy was simplified by various researchers from the 1970s onwards, all species were retained in the genus Mammuthus, and many proposed differences between species were instead interpreted as intraspecific variation.

Osborn chose two molars (found in Siberia and Osterode) from Blumenbach's collection at Göttingen University as the lectotype specimens for the woolly mammoth, since holotype designation was not practised in Blumenbach's time. Russian palaeontologist Vera Gromova further proposed the former should be considered the lectotype with the latter as paralectotype. Both molars were thought lost by the 1980s, and the more complete "Taimyr mammoth" found in Siberia in 1948 was therefore proposed as the neotype specimen in 1990. Resolutions to historical issues about the validity of the genus name Mammuthus and the type species designation of E. primigenius were also proposed. The paralectotype molar (specimen GZG.V.010.018) has since been located in the Göttingen University collection, identified by comparing it with Osborn's illustration of a cast.

The woolly Mammoth was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with Mammuthus subplanifrons in the early Pliocene. The woolly mammoth began to diverge from the steppe mammoth about 800,000 years ago in East Asia. With a genome project for the mammoth completed in 2015, it has been proposed the species could be revived through various means, but none of the methods proposed are yet feasible.

Its closest extant relative is the Asian elephant. DNA studies show that the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi), was a hybrid between woolly mammoths and another lineage descended from steppe mammoths. The appearance and behaviour of this species are among the best studied of any prehistoric animal because of the discovery of frozen carcasses in Siberia and Alaska, as well as skeletons, teeth, stomach contents, dung, and depiction from life in prehistoric cave paintings.

The woolly mammoth coexisted with early humans, mainly hunted the species for food but also used its bones and tusks for making art, tools, and even huts and houses;
    30 bone hut sites out of Mammoth bone made by prehistoric humans during the Paleolithic period has been found (as deep as 22.5 m deep) in Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine in Europe. The huts and houses were Circular or oval huts and as much as 15 to 20 feet in diameter. The oldest are dated to be 27,500 years old, (Ukraine houses are dated at between 12,000 and 19,000 years ago) and whole villages have been found, being the oldest signs of civilization ever found. Humankind started creating urban centers like those clusters of homes maybe some 30,000 years ago, during the "Ice Age" te final Pleistocene glaciation, named Würm II, or Weichsel.

The woolly Mammoth disappeared from its mainland range at the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 years ago. Isolated populations survived on St. Paul Island until 5,600 years ago and on Wrangel Island until 4,000-3,500 years ago. After its extinction, humans continued using its ivory as a raw material, a tradition that continues today.

Most specimens of Woolly Mammoths has been found in Siberia, Russia. From Scandinavia and Baltics some 85 specimens are reported, Norway 16, Sweden over 23, Finland 11, Estonia 20, and Latvia about 12.[3]


37 Wolly Mammoth in taxidermy collections

IndexNameSexOriginAgeBirthDeath dateArrivalPresent or last Location
1-Nun cho ga-Fbetween 35,000 and 40,000 years ago.between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago.2022-06-21Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre
2-Bristles Mammoth-unknownbetween 10,000 and 15,000 years agobetween 10,000 and 15,000 years ago2019-04-00University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
3-Fourcaud Mammoth-unknown 14,230 years ago14,230 years ago2010-00-00Espéraza Dinosaur Museum
4-Lyuba-FAbout 41,800 years agoAbout 41,800 years ago2007-00-00The Shemanovsky Museum-Exhibition Complex
5-Dima- about 41,000 years agoabout 41,000 years ago1977-00-00Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
6-Kånkback Mammoth- 1975-00-00JAMTLI Provincial Museum of Jämtland
7-Herttoniemi Mammoth- 1954-00-00Finnish Museum of Natural History
8-Haapajärvi Mammoth- 1952-00-00Finnish Museum of Natural History
9-Unnamed Mammoth- 1949-00-00Storfinnforsen Hydroelectric Power Station
10-Sollefteå Mammoth- 1949-00-00Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM)
11-Lockarp Mammoth- ca 16 000 years agoca 16 000 years ago1939-00-00Lund Zoological Museum
12-Arrie Mammoth- ca 15,900 years ago ca 15,900 years ago 1934-00-00Lund Zoological Museum
13-Lohtaja Mammoth- 1930-00-00Finnish Museum of Natural History
14-Tuulos Mammoth- 1923-00-00Finnish Museum of Natural History
15-Espoo Mammoth- 1921-00-00Finnish Museum of Natural History
16-Töölö Mammoth- 1911-00-00Finnish Museum of Natural History
17-Pohja Mammoth- 1896-00-00Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
18-Niederweningen Mammoth Baby-unknown 45 000 years ago45 000 years ago1891-00-00Mammutmuseum Niederweningen
19-Nilsiä Mammoth- 1873-00-00Finnish Museum of Natural History
20-Titente Mammoth- 1865-00-00Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM)
21-Sheldon Mammoth-unknownover 20,000 years agoover 20,000 years agoSheldon Prairie Museum
22-Iijoki Mammoth- Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM)
23-Ivanovich Mammoth-M City Duma Tyumen Museum of local History
24-Ystad Mammoth- Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM)
25-Bårslöv Mammoth- Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM)
26-Pilgrimstad Mammoth-M Jämtland Wargentin Gymnasium nature museum
27-Unknown name- Petrus Magni school museum
28-Unknown name- Österportgymnasium nature museum
29-Fairbanks Creek Mammoth- 21,300 years ago (±1,300)21,300 years ago (±1,300) American Museum of Natural History
30-Unnamed Mammoth- County Museum of Västernorrland
31-Lerdal Mammoth-F Uppsala Museum of Evolution
32-Bäck Mammoth- Uppsala Museum of Evolution
33-Scheldt Mammoth- Lund Zoological Museum
34-Brunkeberg Mammoth- Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM)
35-Siegsdorfer Mammut- ca 45 000 years agoca 45 000 years agoSiegsdorf Natural History and Mammoth Museum
36-Göttingen paralectotype Mammoth- Göttingen Zoological Museum
37-Leibniz Mammoth- Göttingen Zoological Museum


Sources

  1. Woolly Mammoth on Wikipedia
  2. The last mammoths died on a remote island
  3. Remarks on Weiselian megafauna (Mammuthus Coeleodonta, and Bison) of the intraglacial area around the Baltic basin
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