Mammuthus columbi

Geological Time: Pleistocene

Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch): 110 mm long by 80 mm wide, 115 mm tall

Fossil Site: Withlacoochee River, Citrus County, Florida

Code: AAF492

Price: Sold

Description: A spectacular example of a Series II (second) molar of the Columbian Mammoth, from a river deposit on Florida’s west-central coast. It has been stabilized to prevent deterioration. Like the modern day elephant, mammoths had a total of 6 teeth, with only one tooth active in the jaw at any one time. A baby mammoth’s first tooth was similar in size to an adult human molar. By 6 months of age, the second molar began forming, replacing the first molar by 18 months of age. This tooth was replaced by the third, which lasted until a mammoth was about ten years old, with each successive tooth replacing the one before in conveyor belt fashion. The last molar would come into play by the time a mammoth was 40, and would need to last for the balance of the mammoth’s life. The degree of wear indicates that this one was near replacement. Unlike the Woolly Mammoth that most are familiar with, the Columbian Mammoth was relatively hairless, and with a shoulder height of 4 meters, quite a bit taller, both adaptations to a warmer environment. The Columbian Mammoth occupied the southern half of North America, extending as far south as Mexico, and their ancestors preceded the Woolly mammoth into North America by over 1,000,000 years. Perhaps the most famous Columbian Mammoth death site is Hot Springs, South Dakota, where up to 100 mammoths met their end some 26,000 years ago.