The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is a species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with Mammuthus subplanifrons in the early Pliocene. The woolly mammoth began to diverge from the steppe mammoth about 800,000 years ago in East Asia. Its closest extant relative is the Asian elephant. The appearance and behaviour of this species are among the best studied of any prehistoric animal because of the discovery of frozen carcasses in Siberia and Alaska, as well as skeletons, teeth, stomach contents, dung, and depiction from life in prehistoric cave paintings. Mammoth remains had long been known in Asia before they became known to Europeans in the 17th century. The origin of these remains was long a matter of debate, and often explained as being remains of legendary creatures. The mammoth was identified as an extinct species of elephant by Georges Cuvier in 1796. The woolly mammoth was roughly the same size as modern African elephants. Males reached shoulder heights between 2.7 and 3.4 m (8.9 and 11.2 ft) and weighed up to 6 metric tons (6.6 short tons). Females reached 2.6–2.9 m (8.5–9.5 ft) in shoulder heights and weighed up to 4 metric tons (4.4 short tons). A newborn calf weighed about 90 kg (200 lb). The woolly mammoth was well adapted to the cold environment during the last ice age. It was covered in fur, with an outer covering of long guard hairs and a shorter undercoat. The colour of the coat varied from dark to light. The ears and tail were short to minimise frostbite and heat loss. It had long, curved tusks and four molars, which were replaced six times during the lifetime of an individual. Its behaviour was similar to that of modern elephants, and it used its tusks and trunk for manipulating objects, fighting, and foraging. The diet of the woolly mammoth was mainly grasses and sedges. Individuals could probably reach the age of 60. Its habitat was the mammoth steppe, which stretched across northern Eurasia and North America. The woolly mammoth coexisted with early humans, who used its bones and tusks for making art, tools, and dwellings, and hunted the species for food. It disappeared from its mainland range at the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 years ago. Isolated populations survived on St. Paul Island until 5,600 years ago and on Wrangel Island until 4,000 years ago. After its extinction, humans continued using its ivory as a raw material, a tradition that continues today. With a genome project for the mammoth completed in 2015, it has been proposed the species could be revived through various means, but none of the methods proposed are yet feasible.
Woolly Mammoth
The Lost Wildlife
for The Lost Wildlife in Van Helsing : Quest for the Lost World
Suggested by jeanpaulvalley
1907, four years after the events of the last two movies. While Van Helsing and his team have succeeded in arresting the murderers of Rue Morgue, in France, a new threat is coming and this time mankind is directly responsible for it. A peculiar scientist, well-connected to the British government, Doctor Alexander Zorka, discovered proof of the existence of a Lost World, somewhere in South America, deep in the Amazon rainforest. There lies a new metal in the underground mines, which could help Zorka create weapons like no other, which could change the balance of the world in his favor. Our heroes, as they go on a mission to hunt down monsters in the Congo, will be challenged by Koschei, the famous Russian warrior of several centuries who cannot die, and the one he protect, the young Medusa, daughter of the last Gorgon, to warn them of this threat. Unfortunately, they will not be able to prevent the kidnapping of Professor Challenger, who was studing in the country, by Zorka's men to take them to the mysterious South American plateau, but they will be able to count in particular on the expertise of Gill-Man, who heard of this foreign place. To prevent Zorka from causing a world war, our heroes will have to go and explode a world where creatures from another era still exist and where survival can be complicated, even for beings like them !
