Elephas primigenius Fossil Tooth Mammoth Woolly Elephant Prehistoric Megafauna Pleistocene Quaternary Collection (9)

Description

Origin : Holland (North Sea)

Geological era : Late Pleistocene

Age : 30,000 - 50,000 years

Size : 210 gr - cm 7 x 6.7 x 5.2

Mammuthus Tooth Fossil Prehistoric Woolly Elephant cm 7 x 6.7 x 5.2 - gr 210 Mammuthus Elephas primigenius Extinct Proboscidean Mammals Pleistocene Quaternary Collecting Paleontology Museum.

Molar tooth of a young specimen of Mammoth, Mammouth or Mammut, good quality collectible fossil find, with excellent details of the enamelled crown ridges. Only a piece, as in photo.

The Woolly Mammoth, whose scientific name is Elephas primigenius or Mammuthus primigenius, is part of the order Proboscidea and is one of the species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of the Elephantidae family and close relatives of modern elephants. They were equipped with long upward-curving tusks and, in the northern species, a covering of long, thick hair.
The origin of the name is uncertain, but it can be traced back to the Russian мамонт "mamont" from which the French "mammouth" and the English "mammoth", all expressions of obscure origin, but with the probable meaning of "digger".
The woolly mammoth lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last of a series of mammoth species, starting with the African Mammuthus subplanifrons in the early Pliocene. The woolly mammoth began to diverge from the steppe mammoth about 800,000 years ago in East Asia. Its closest relative is the Asian elephant. The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) lived alongside the woolly mammoth in North America, and DNA studies show that the two hybridized with each other.
The appearance and behavior of this species are among the best studied of all prehistoric animals thanks to the discovery of intact carcasses frozen in permafrost in Siberia and North America, as well as skeletons, teeth, stomach contents, dung and representations of life in prehistoric rock paintings. Mammoth remains had long been known in Asia before they became known to Europeans in the 17th century. The origin of these remains has long been the subject of debate and was often explained as the remains of legendary creatures. The mammoth was identified as an extinct species of elephant by Georges Cuvier in 1796.
Contrary to popular opinion, the woolly mammoth was about the same size as modern African elephants. Males reached an average height at the shoulders of 2.8 m. and weighed up to 8 tons. The woolly mammoth was well adapted to the cold environment during the last ice age. It was covered in fur, with an outer covering of long, shaggy hairs and a shorter undercoat. The color of the coat varied from dark to light, according to what was detected by the Mc1r gene, detected from the bones of this animal. The ears and tail were short to minimize freezing and heat loss. It had long, curved tusks and four molars, which were replaced six times during an individual's life.
Mammoth species can be identified by the number of enameled ridges on their molars; the primitive species had few crests, and the quantity gradually increased as new species evolved and replaced previous ones. At the same time, the crowns of the teeth became longer and the skulls became taller from top to bottom and shorter from back to front over time to accommodate this.
Its behavior was similar to that of modern elephants and it used its tusks and trunk to manipulate objects, fight and dig in the snow for food. The woolly mammoth's diet was mostly grasses and sedges. Individuals could probably reach 60 years of age. Its habitat was the steppe, which stretched across northern Eurasia and North America.
The woolly mammoth coexisted with early Paleolithic humans, who used its bones and tusks to create art, tools and homes, and hunted the species for food. The woolly mammoth population declined at the end of the Late Pleistocene, with the last populations on mainland Siberia persisting until about 10,000 years ago, although isolated populations survived on St. Paul's Island until 5,600 years ago and on Wrangel Island until 4,000 years ago. After its extinction, humans continued to use ivory as a raw material, a tradition that continues today, although of little value.
With a mammoth genome project completed in 2015, it has been proposed that the species could be revived by various means, but none of the proposed methods are yet feasible.