Any of several species (genus Mammuthus ) of extinct elephant s whose fossils have been found in Pleistocene deposits (beginning 1.8 million years ago) on every continent except Australia and South America.
The woolly, Northern, or Siberian mammoth ( M. primigenius ) is the best-known species because the Siberian permafrost preserved numerous carcasses intact. Most species were about the size of modern elephants; some were much smaller. The North American imperial mammoth ( M. imperator ) grew to a shoulder height of 14 ft (4 m). Many species had a short, woolly undercoat and a long, coarse outer coat. Mammoths had a high, domelike skull and small ears. Their long, downward-pointing tusks sometimes curved over each other. Cave paintings show them traveling in herds. Mammoths survived until about 10,000 years ago; hunting by humans may have been a cause of their extinction. See also mastodon .