One of the most well-known species of the ‘Ice Age’, the Wooly Mammoth was the last of the various mammoth species. It continued to live in isolated populations on St. Paul Island and Wrangel Island even after extinction on most mainland mammoth steppe ecosystems - a unique habitat of cold, dry treeless vegetation that reached from North America to northern Eurasia.

Because of the large amount of ivory and frozen carcasses left behind, the Wooly Mammoth is one of the most well studied prehistoric animals. It’s been found in cave paintings and has fascinated those who stumbled upon those paintings and remains - sometimes explaining them away as mythological creatures. But in reality they were about the size of an African elephant, with large curved tusks. They weighed up to 6 tonnes and stood at about 2.7 to 3.4 m (9 to 11 ft) high.

Though their eventual demise is still debated, it was likely a combination of climate change that swept away their mammoth steppe habitat and hunting by humans. They were used for everything from tent building, carving material, weapon material, clothing, and food by these prehistoric humans and Neanderthals.

Extinction Date: 4,000 years ago