Mammuthus primigenius
Woolly mammoths are perhaps the best known mammals of the Ice Age. Much is known about their appearance because carcasses have been found preserved in frozen ground in Siberia, and wall pictures by stone-age artists can be seen today in ancient European caves. Woolly mammoths grew to about the size of present-day Asiatic elephants, possessed warm coats consisting of long, brown guard hairs and soft underwool, large curved ivory tusks, and knob-like heads.
They once roamed the northern parts of Eurasia and North America, feeding on plants such as grasses, sedges, and shrubs. One of the best preserved Canadian specimens consists of most of an entire skeleton from Whitestone River in the Yukon Territory. It died there about 30,000 years ago, according to a radiocarbon date. Their thick coats and heavy layers of fat fitted them for life in cold, tundra-like conditions.
Primitive hunters were sometimes successful in killing them for food.