Mammuthus meridionalis

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Mammuthus meridionalis
Fossil range: Early Pleistocene

Conservation status
Prehistoric
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephantidae
Genus: Mammuthus
Species: M. meridionalis

Mammuthus meridionalis is an extinct species of mammoth.

Skeleton of Mammuthus meridionalis, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris.
Skeleton of Mammuthus meridionalis, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris.

With a height of 4.50 m (15 ft) [1], M. meridionalis is one of the largest proboscids to have ever lived, along with the steppe mammoth and the earlier Deinotherium. M. meridionalis was one of the first species of mammoths and resembled a huge Asian elephant with larger tusks. It may have been the ancestor of later species such as the woolly mammoth.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Palmer, Douglas (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric animals. London: Marshall Editions Developments Ltd. 3-8290-6747-X. 
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