Mammuthus meridionalis
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| Skeleton of Mammuthus meridionalis, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris | |
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M. meridionalis
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| Mammuthus meridionalis (Nesti, 1825)
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Mammuthus meridionalis, or the southern mammoth, is an extinct species of mammoth endemic to Europe and central Asia from the Gelasian stage of the Early Pleistocene, living from 2.5–1.5 mya.[1]
Description
With a shoulder height of about 4 metres (13 ft) and an estimated weight of 8–10 tonnes (8.8–11.0 short tons), M. meridionalis is one of the largest proboscideans to have ever lived, along with other larger species of mammoth, and the earlier Deinotherium. Another estimate gives a shoulder height of 3.97 metres (13.0 ft) and a weight of 10.7 tonnes (11.8 short tons).[2] It had robust twisted tusks, common of mammoths. Its molars had low crowns and a small number of thick enamel ridges, adapted to a woodland diet of leaves and shrubs; this indicates it lived on a relatively warm climate, which makes it more probable that it lacked dense fur.[3]
Habitat and diet
Plant and fossils found with the remains show that M. meridionalis was living in a time of mild climate, generally as warm or slightly warmer than Europe experiences today. Deciduous mixed wood provided its habitat and food, which consisted mostly of tree-browse: oak, ash, beech and other familiar European trees, as well as some that are now exotic to the region, such as hemlock, wing nut and hickory. Completes skeletons are in Stavropol State Museum, in Russia, and in L'Aquila National Museum, in Italy. Further east, discoveries at Ubeidiya (Israel) and Dmanisi (Georgia) show the early mammoth living in a partially open habitat with grassy areas, though subsisting on scattered trees and shrubs. [3]
Images
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Molar of Mammuthus meridionalis
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Skeletal restoration
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Complete skeleton in Stavropol State Museum
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Complete skeleton in L'Aquila National Museum
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Size (grey) compared to a human and other mammoths
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References
- ↑ PaleoBiology Database: Mammuthus meridionalis, basic info
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- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
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