Columbian mammoth skeleton. Cast of the fossilised skeleton of a male Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) on display at the Wyoming Welcome Center, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA. The Columbian mammoth was one of the largest of the mammoth species and one of the largest elephants to have ever lived, measuring 4 metres tall and weighing up to 10 tons. It was one of the last members of the American megafauna to go extinct, with the date of disappearance generally set at approximately 12, 500 years ago. However, several specimens have been dated to 9, 000 years ago or less and one near Nashville, Tennessee was reliably dated to only about 7, 800 years ago. This specimen was found at an oil drilling site in 2006 and named Dee by its discoverers. Its skeleton is on display at the Tate Geological Museum in Casper, Wyoming. |