Woolly mammoth
'Will, the Woolly Mammoth' | Dennis Sylvester Hurd | Flickr is in the public domain.
The woolly mammoth lived on our planet until around 3,700 years ago. They are now extinct. Extinct means they are all dead.
They lived in the time of the ice age when more of the land was covered in ice. Much of the UK was covered in ice.
They lived in the time of the ice age when more of the land was covered in ice. Much of the UK was covered in ice.
By Ulamm - File:Europe topography map.png, 2 April 2006 by San Jose, based on the Generic Mapping Tools and ETOPO2, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
To stay warm it had long, thick hair and a thick layer of fat. It had much smaller ears than African elephants as the ears let heat out of the body.
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Its body was about the same size as an elephant. Often, an adult woolly mammoth was as heavy as 80 men.
It grew long, curved tusks. The tusks were curved so it was more easy for a woolly mammoth to hold its head up. The longest tusk ever found was over 4 metres long.
Longest mammoth tusk | Guinness World Records
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The woolly mammoth mainly lived in tundra habitat where just low shrubs and grass grew. They ate the plants by digging them up with their tusks.
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Woolly mammoths may have used their tusks to clear snow from the ground to reach the plants below. They may also have used their tusks to break ice to drink water beneath.
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A woolly mammoth could use its trunk for breathing and smelling. It could use its trunk to suck up water and squirt it out. It could squirt the water into its mouth for a drink.
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A woolly mammoth had a lump on its back. Experts think that the lump stored fat like camel humps do. The animal turns the fat into energy if it has not had enough to eat.
Woolly mammoths lived in small family groups. The adults looked after the young mammoths.
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A baby grew its tusks when it was 6 months old.
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An adult woolly mammoth could defend itself from predators with its tusks and trunk.
They had to defend against animals that hunted in packs. Wolves and large cats would hunt in packs.
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One sort of large cat that hunted woolly mammoths was a smilodon. It had long, pointy fangs. People call it a sabre-tooth tiger.
By Dantheman9758 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
This is a smilodon's skull and teeth.
By Jtredden - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Woolly mammoths were alive when humans were alive. Humans hunted them with spears. People think they became extinct because they were hunted so much and Earth became warmer.
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We know lots about woolly mammoths because we have found lots of their bones and tusks.
Woolly mammoth bones and tusks have been found in the United Kingdom.
Going the way of the woolly rhino? - BBC News
Image credits for UK map: By Source:File:British Isles all.svg by CnbrbFile:United Kingdom countries.svg by Rob984Derived work:Offnfopt - United Kingdom countries.svg,
Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Bones and horns belonging to the woolly rhinoceros have been found in the UK, too. They lived at the same time as the woolly mammoth. It ate plants too.
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