Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Mammuthus meridionalis
open-in-new
<p><i>Mammuthus meridionalis</i>, sometimes called the southern mammoth, is an extinct species of <a href="/facts/Mammoth/k9MnxS2k">mammoth</a> native to Eurasia during the <a href="/facts/Early_Pleistocene/jPp2Cn7a">Early Pleistocene</a>. Reaching a size exceeding modern elephants, unlike later Eurasian mammoth species, it was largely native to temperate climates and probably did not have a thick layer of fur. First appearing around 2.5 million years ago, probably descending from <i><a href="/facts/Mammuthus_rumanus/SfSFMDjn">Mammuthus rumanus</a></i>, it survived latest in Europe until around 800,000 years ago when it was replaced by the <a href="/facts/Steppe_mammoth/sDNmjCBz">steppe mammoth</a> (<i>Mammuthus trogontherii</i>) and the <a href="/facts/Straight-tusked_elephant/hSMRKd2m">straight-tusked elephant</a> (<i>Palaeoloxodon antiquus</i>). It is the likely ancestor of the dwarf <i><a href="/facts/Mammuthus_creticus/wjq45WyN">Mammuthus creticus</a></i> on the island of Crete. </p>