Ancient History

Throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, scientists have found the remains of a mighty creature known as the Mammoth. The mere sound of the name brings on images of enormous pachyderms covered in thick fur.

Fossils records have found these animals lived from as far back as 4.8 million years ago, to as recently as 4,000 years ago. Throughout the ages, several species of mammoth roamed the Earth. However, the mammoth we usually think about are the Woolly Mammoth of Siberia and the Columbian and Imperial Mammoths of North America.

The Imperial Mammoth of North America was the largest of all species. It’s range spread from Canada to Mexico, and several fossilized bones have been retrieved from the La Brea Tar Pits in California. This animal could stand as tall as 16 feet at it’s shoulders and had tusks so large that they would overlap. The Imperial Mammoth died out about 17,000 years ago.

The Columbian Mammoth was only slightly smaller than the Imperial, and roamed the same regions. However, the Columbian’s tusks did not overlap and the largest Columbian stood about 13 feet at the shoulders. However, the Columbian Mammoth didn’t reach extinction between 9,000 and 8,000 years ago. It was one of the last mega-fauna creature to go extinct.

The Siberian Mammoth, or better known as the Woolly Mammoth, is probably the most famous of all the species. This animal roamed the vast ice sheets of the Northern Hemisphere until about 12,000 years ago. However, there is evidence that some Mammoth survived in what is now Alaska as recently as 6,000 years ago, and on Wrangel Island near the Arctic Ocean as recently as 3,700 years ago.

In the last few years, scientists have found several Mammoth remains in the frozen tundra of Siberia. In May of 2007, a complete baby mammoth was found in Russia. The small Mammoth was in extraordinary condition, allowing experts to even distinguish the animals sex.

Oddly enough, there is a lot of talk about scientists cloning DNA found in many hair samples taken from various Mammoth specimens. Will we see a real, living Mammoth in our lifetimes? Or, do we even have the right to bring this ancient animal back to life?