Columbian Mammoth

extinct · ice age · megafauna · North America

Massive tusked giant. The Columbian mammoth was a huge elephant-like creature that lived during the Pleistocene epoch, when ice ages shaped the planet. It was one of the largest land animals that ever existed.

Spanned two continents. These mammoths lived across North America, from southern Canada all the way down to Costa Rica. They wandered vast grasslands and forests during different climate periods.

Traveled from Asia. Columbian mammoths descended from mammoths that originally lived in the Eurasian steppes and migrated to North America about 1.5 million years ago. Over time, they adapted to their new home.

Mixed with cousins. The Columbian mammoth sometimes interbred with woolly mammoths, creating hybrid offspring. This mixing of different mammoth groups happened as they encountered each other.

Related to elephants. The closest living relative of the Columbian mammoth is the Asian elephant today. Mammoths and elephants share a common ancestor from long ago.