The Columbia mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) is an extinct species of mammoth that lived in North America, extending from the northern United States to Costa Rica in the south during the Pleistocene epoch. It was one of the last species of the mammoth lineage that originated in the early Pliocene with the hypothetical common ancestor between M. columbi and M. subplanifrons. The Columbian mammoth evolved from the steppe mammoth, which entered North America from Asia about 1.5 million years ago. The pygmy mammoth of the Northern California archipelago evolved in turn from the Columbian mammoths. The closest living relative of the Columbia mammoth and other mammoths is the Asian elephant.
Reaching 4 meters at the withers and weighing 8 - 10 tonnes, the Columbia mammoth was one of the largest species of mammoth. It had large, highly curved guards ("fangs") and four molars, which were replaced six times during the animal's life. It most likely used its defenses and trunk like modern elephants—to manipulate objects, fight, and feed. Bones, hair, excrement and stomach contents have been discovered, but no complete individual. The Columbian mammoth preferred open areas, such as parkland-type landscapes, feeding on reeds, grasses and other plants. It did not live in the arctic regions of Canada, which were inhabited by the woolly mammoth. The ranges of both species may have overlapped, and molecular biology analyzes suggest that they may even have hybridized. Several localities preserve the skeletons of multiple individuals of Columbian mammoths, either because they died in a single incident such as a sudden flood, or because they were places that functioned as natural traps in which individuals accumulated over time.
Columbian mammoths coexisted with Paleoamericans, who hunted them for their meat, used their bones to make tools, and also made artistic representations of them. Mammoth remains have been found in association with Clovis culture artifacts; These remains present the highest frequency of prehistoric exploitation of proboscideans as a food source in the world.1 The Columbian mammoth disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene about 11,000 years ago, most likely as a result of hunting by humans, and its Extinction may have been accelerated by habitat loss due to climate change.2
b As in modern elephants, a mammoth's sensitive, muscular trunk was an organ with many functions. It was used to manipulate objects and interact socially. Although healthy adult mammoths could defend themselves from predators with their size, trunk and tusks, juveniles and weakened adults were vulnerable to group hunters such as wolves or large cats. Human beings, however, were capable of killing both healthy and sick adults, through the use of spears and probably also poisoned arrows24 like those still used by poachers in Africa to kill large adult males.25 Bones of juvenile Columbian mammoths, accumulated by Homotherium (the scimitar-toothed felid), have been found in Friesenhahn Cavern in Texas. The tusks may have been used in intraspecific combats for territory and for display, attracting females and intimidating potential rivals. In terms of behavior, the discovery in Nebraska of two Columbian mammoths, both dead with their tusks hooked, demonstrates that these animals fought among themselves. Mammoths were able to use their tusks as weapons by pushing, hitting or smashing, and were used in pushing competitions by pushing them together, which sometimes ended in them breaking. The curvature of the fangs prevented them from being used for stabbing. At Goat Rock Beach in Sonoma Coast State Park, outcrops of blue shale and chert (nicknamed "mammoth rocks") show signs of being used by Columbian mammoths or mastodons for scratching. The rocks have polished areas 3 - 4 meters above the ground, mainly near their edges, and are similar to African rocks that are used by elephants and other herbivores to remove mud and parasites. Similar rocks have been found at Hueco Tanks, Texas, and at Cornudas Mountain in New Mexico.262728
Drawing of a pair of mammoths; one has short fangs, and the other's are long and curved.
Recreation of a couple on a lake, by Robert Bruce Horsfall, 1912.
Accumulations of modern elephant remains have been called "elephant cemeteries" because they were mistakenly believed to be places where old elephants who were going to die went. Similar accumulations of mammoth bones have been found; They are thought to be the result of individuals who died in or near rivers over thousands of years and their bones were accumulated by water (as in the case of the Acuilla River in Florida), or of animals trapped in the mud. Some accumulations are thought to be remains of herds that died at the same time, perhaps due to a flood. Columbian mammoths were occasionally preserved in volcanic deposits such as those at Tocuila, in Texcoco, Mexico, where a volcanic lahar covered at least seven individuals 12,500 years ago. It is unknown how many mammoths lived in a given location at any given time, but it is likely that the number varied according to season and life cycle. Modern elephants can form large herds, sometimes composed of multiple family groups, and these herds can include thousands of animals migrating together. Mammoths were able to form large herds more frequently than modern elephants, since animals living in open areas have a greater opportunity to do so than those living in more forested areas. Although it is unclear to what extent Columbian mammoths migrated, isotopic analysis of Blackwater Draw in New Mexico indicated that they spent part of the year in the Rocky Mountains, 200 km away. The study of their tusk rings can help in future research on mammoth migration.192930
Remains of a mammoth buried 53,000 years ago
Specimen of a female, "mammoth W" at the Waco Mammoth National Monument.
Like modern elephants, Columbian mammoths were probably social, living in matriarchal (female-led) family groups; most of their social behavior must have been similar to that of modern elephants. This is supported by fossil collections such as those at the Dent Site in Colorado and the Waco Mammoth National Monument, where groups composed entirely of female and coumbian mammoths have been found. young specimens (which implies groups led by females). On the most recent floor there are a total of 22 skeletons, with 15 individuals interpreted as a herd of females and juveniles. It was originally proposed that they died during a flash flood, and that the arrangement of some of the skeletons would suggest that the females would have formed a defensive circle around the young. In 2016, it was instead suggested that the group died during a drought near a dwindling waterhole; marks them
Eyewitness (Tv Series, 1994-1996)[]
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Land of the Mammoth (2001)[]
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Island of the Pygmy Mammoth (2002)[]
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What Killed the Mega Beasts? (2002)[]
History and Design The mammoth was designed by Meteor Studios. Unlike Island of the Pygmy Mammoth, it is a completely new design with it being more robust and being covered in hair. Despite representing the Columbian mammoth, it is intentionally misidentified as a Woolly mammoth in order for it to be more recognizable to the audience. Its design was later recycled for an actual Woolly mammoth in Before We Ruled the Earth.
Role Its primary role in the special is to give credence to the idea that over hunting was the primary factor as to why megafauna went extinct. The special takes a look at the Dent site and has a dramatization depicting the massacre that was believed to have taken place. The mammoths are also seen as an example of the idea that disease killed megafauna, with it being shown that dogs transmitted dangerous diseases into the Columbian mammoth populations.
Inaccuracies
- Due to being misidentified as a woolly mammoth, it is too shaggy for the environment it is portrayed to be living in.
- It is oversized in comparison to the real animal.
- Nowadays it is believed that the Dent massacre was never an actual massacre, making the mammoth massacre depicted in the special a complete fantasy.
Cultural Significance The design is one of the few depictions of the animal to be shown having fur. It has also been traced numerous times by amateur artists.
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Wild New World (2002)[]
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LA 10,000 BC (2003)[]
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Prehistoric Predators (2007)[]
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Journey to 10,000 B.C. (2008)[]
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Primeval (2008)[]
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Prehistoric (2010)[]
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Ice Age Death Trap (2012)[]
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Ice Age Giants (2013)[]
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Titans of the Ice Age 3D (2013)[]
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Ice Age Survivors (2015)[]
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Age of Big Cats (2018)[]
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When Whales Walked: Journeys in Deep Time (2019)[]
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LaBrea (2021)[]
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