Columbian Mammoth

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National Park Service White Sands U.S. Department of the Interior White Sands National Monument Columbian Mammoth Columbian Mammoth / Mammuthus columbi (NPS Photo) ammoths are one of the most well-known prehistoric mammals. To many people, these giant, furry Mancestors of the elephant practically embody the Ice Age. But did you know there was more than one kind of mammoth? In fact, during the Pleistocene epoch, entire continent. Its range stretched sites suggest. Both mammoths and several types of mammoths walked from Canada all the way down to elephants also share similar ridged the earth at one time or another. Nicaragua and Honduras. teeth, good for chewing plants. These Some of these mammoths even made teeth grow in sets, with more sets of their way through White Sands, One of the largest mammoths of its teeth growing in as the elephant or back when this area was a large lake time, the Columbian mammoth stood mammoth ages. From this scientists called Lake Otero. Their footprints up to 14 feet (over four meters) tall have estimated the Columbian now make up part of our Pleistocene at the shoulder, 13 to 15 feet (4-4.5 mammoth could live up to 70 or 80 trackway. The mammoths here meters) long, and possibly weighed- years old. The ridged teeth also fit at White Sands were Columbian in at a massive 18,000 to 22,000 with the mammoth’s diet, which mammoths. pounds (8,000-10,000 kilograms)! It appears to have been grasses, sedges, also boasted large tusks up to 16 feet and brush with some trees and woody The Columbian mammoth (almost five meters) long. Other than plants. Like modern elephants, (Mammuthus columbi) first showed size, the major difference between the mammoths would have had to eat up in North America about one two mammoths was hair. While the a lot of this food each day to fuel million years ago. It evolved from woolly mammoth was named for its their enormous bodies. Columbian an earlier mammoth species that thick coat, the Columbian mammoth mammoths likely spent up to 16 to had crossed into North America probably did not have much hair. Its 18 hours a day eating, consuming up early in the Pleistocene epoch. home in North America was generally to 150,000 calories and hundreds of Just who exactly this ancestor was warmer than the woolly mammoth’s pounds a food each day! is still debated; different sources homeland of Eurasia, so it did not report southern, imperial, or steppe need as much hair to stay warm. mammoths as the possible culprit. Regardless of its family history, The Columbian mammoth did the Columbian mammoth quickly share some similarities with modern established itself in North America, elephants. They may have lived in migrating throughout almost the herds like elephants, as some fossil Revised 09/5/2016.

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Open Thesis Final V2.Pdf
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of the Geosciences TAXONOMIC AND ECOLOGIC IMPLICATIONS OF MAMMOTH MOLAR MORPHOLOGY AS MEASURED VIA COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY A Thesis in Geosciences by Gregory J Smith 2015 Gregory J Smith Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science August 2015 ii The thesis of Gregory J Smith was reviewed and approved* by the following: Russell W. Graham EMS Museum Director and Professor of the Geosciences Thesis Advisor Mark Patzkowsky Professor of the Geosciences Eric Post Director of the Polar Center and Professor of Biology Timothy Ryan Associate Professor of Anthropology and Information Sciences and Technology Michael Arthur Professor of the Geosciences Interim Associate Head for Graduate Programs and Research *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT Two Late Pleistocene species of Mammuthus, M. columbi and M. primigenius, prove difficult to identify on the basis of their third molar (M3) morphology alone due to the effects of dental wear. A newly-erupted, relatively unworn M3 exhibits drastically different characters than that tooth would after a lifetime of wear. On a highly-worn molar, the lophs that comprise the occlusal surface are more broadly spaced and the enamel ridges thicken in comparison to these respective characters on an unworn molar. Since Mammuthus taxonomy depends on the lamellar frequency (# of lophs/decimeter of occlusal surface) and enamel thickness of the third molar, given the effects of wear it becomes apparent that these taxonomic characters are variable throughout the tooth’s life. Therefore, employing static taxonomic identifications that are based on dynamic attributes is a fundamentally flawed practice.
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