19 Facts About Columbian mammoth

Columbian mammoth or the imperial mammoth is an extinct species of mammoth that inhabited the Americas as far north as the Northern United States and as far south as Costa Rica during the Pleistocene epoch.

The Columbian mammoth preferred open areas, such as parkland landscapes, and fed on sedges, grasses, and other plants.

Columbian mammoth was first scientifically described in 1857 by naturalist Hugh Falconer, who named the species Elephas columbi after the explorer Christopher Columbus.

The taxonomic situation was simplified by various researchers from the 1970s onwards; all species of Columbian mammoth were retained in the genus Mammuthus, and many proposed differences between species were instead interpreted as intraspecific variation.

The idea that species such as M imperator and M jeffersoni were either more primitive or advanced stages in Columbian mammoth evolution was largely dismissed, and they were regarded as synonyms.

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Since many remains of each species of Columbian mammoth are known from several localities, reconstructing the evolutionary history of the genus is possible through morphological studies.

Apart from its larger size and more primitive molars, the Columbian mammoth differed from the woolly mammoth by its more downturned mandibular symphysis; the dental alveoli of the tusks were directed more laterally away from the midline.

Hair thought to be that of the Columbian mammoth has been discovered in Bechan Cave in Utah, where mammoth dung has been found.

An additional tuft of Columbian mammoth hair is known from near Castroville in California, the hair was noted to be red-orange and was described as being similar in colour to a Golden Retriever.

Columbian mammoth tusks were usually not much larger than those of woolly mammoths, which reached 4.

Columbian mammoth tusks were generally less twisted than those of woolly mammoths.

At the Murray Springs Clovis Site in Arizona, where several Columbian mammoth skeletons have been excavated, a trackway similar to that left by modern elephants leads to one of the skeletons.

Similar accumulations of Columbian mammoth bones have been found; these are thought to be the result of individuals dying near or in rivers over thousands of years and their bones being accumulated by the water, or animals dying after becoming mired in mud.

The age of a Columbian mammoth can be roughly determined by counting the growth rings of its tusks when viewed in cross section.

Columbian mammoth shared its habitat with other now-extinct Pleistocene mammals such as Glyptotherium, Smilodon, ground sloths, Camelops, mastodons, horses, and bison.

The Columbian mammoth coexisted with the other extinct proboscideans Stegomastodon mirificus and Cuvieronius tropicus at sites in Texas and New Mexico during the early Irvingtonian.

Tools made from Columbian mammoth remains have been discovered in several North American sites.

Experiments wherein most spear points used to calculate their effectiveness against simulated Columbian mammoth skin shattered on impact rather than penetrating, suggested to these researchers that ancient humans probably preferred to scavenge Columbian mammoth carcasses for their meat and other resources and threw spears to drive other scavengers away from carcasses before butchering the corpse with their stone tools.

Columbian mammoth is the state fossil of Washington and South Carolina.