woolly mammoth: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	Siberian mammoth • Northern mammoth • Mammuthus primigenius

Photos and Videos

Replica of a woolly mammoth with long curved tusks and shaggy fur on display in a museum exhibit, set against a dramatic painted landscape backdrop.

Skeleton of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) with large curved tusks on display at the National Museum of Natural History, surrounded by smaller fossils and exhibit signs.

Side-by-side illustration comparing the American mastodon (Mammut americanum), woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), and modern African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), showing differences in size, body shape, and tusks, with a scale bar indicating 1 meter and 3 feet.

A timeline diagram shows the evolutionary history of modern elephants, depicting Gomphotherium as an ancient ancestor branching into the woolly mammoth, American mastodon, Asian elephant, African savanna elephant, and African forest elephant, with illustrations of each species and labeled time periods from the Eocene to the present.

Will cloning bring the woolly mammoth back to life?

What are the Different Types of Extinction?

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

How big was the woolly mammoth?mammoth

Lion (panthera leo)

Deadliest Animals Quiz

Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024

Animal Factoids