Editing Mammoth (section)

==Evolution==
The earliest known [[proboscideans]], the [[clade]] that contains the elephants, arose about 55 million years ago on the landmass of Afro-Arabia. The closest relatives of the Proboscidea are the [[sirenians]] and the [[hyrax]]es. The family [[Elephantidae]] arose a million years ago in Africa, including the living elephants and mammoths. Among many now-extinct clades, the [[mastodon]] is only a distant relative of the mammoths and part of the separate [[Mammutidae]] family, which diverged 25 million years before the mammoths evolved.<ref name="Lister 2007">{{cite book |ref=Lister|last1=Lister |first1=A. |last2=Bahn |first2=P. |date=2007 |title=Mammoths – Giants of the Ice Age |edition=3rd |publisher=Frances Lincoln |location=London |isbn=978-0-520-26160-0}}</ref>

Following the publication of the woolly mammoths [[mitochondrial genome]] sequence in 1997, it has since become widely accepted that mammoths and [[Asian elephants]] share a closer relationship with each other than either do to [[African elephant|African elephants]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ozawa |first1=Tomowo |last2=Hayashi |first2=Seiji |last3=Mikhelson |first3=Victor M. |date=April 1997 |title=Phylogenetic Position of Mammoth and Steller's Sea Cow Within Tethytheria Demonstrated by Mitochondrial DNA Sequences |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/PL00006160 |journal=Journal of Molecular Evolution |language=en |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=406–413 |doi=10.1007/PL00006160 |pmid=9089080 |bibcode=1997JMolE..44..406O |issn=0022-2844}}</ref><ref name=":52" />

The following [[cladogram]] shows the placement of the genus ''Mammuthus'' among other proboscideans, based on [[hyoid]] characteristics and genetics:<ref name="Shoshani_etal_2007">{{Cite journal | last1 = Shoshani | first1 = J. | last2 = Ferretti | first2 = M. P. | last3 = Lister | first3 = A. M. | last4 = Agenbroad | first4 = L. D. | last5 = Saegusa | first5 = H. | last6 = Mol | first6 = D. | last7 = Takahashi | first7 = K. | title = Relationships within the Elephantinae using hyoid characters | doi = 10.1016/j.quaint.2007.02.003 | journal = Quaternary International | volume = 169-170 | pages = 174–185 | year = 2007 |bibcode = 2007QuInt.169..174S }}</ref><ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |last1=Palkopoulou |first1=Eleftheria |last2=Lipson |first2=Mark |last3=Mallick |first3=Swapan |last4=Nielsen |first4=Svend |last5=Rohland |first5=Nadin |last6=Baleka |first6=Sina |last7=Karpinski |first7=Emil |last8=Ivancevic |first8=Atma M. |last9=To |first9=Thu-Hien |last10=Kortschak |first10=R. Daniel |last11=Raison |first11=Joy M. |date=2018-03-13 |title=A comprehensive genomic history of extinct and living elephants |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=115 |issue=11 |pages=E2566–E2574 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115E2566P |doi=10.1073/pnas.1720554115 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=5856550 |pmid=29483247 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

{{clade | style = font-size: 90%;
|1={{clade
   |label1=[[Elephantimorpha]]
   |1={{clade
      |1={{extinct}}[[Mammutidae]] (mastodons) <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:BlankMastodon.jpg|70 px]]</span>
      |label2=[[Elephantida]]
      |2={{clade
         |1={{extinct}}[[Gomphotheriidae]] (gomphotheres) <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Gomphotherium NT small.jpg|70 px]]</span>
         |label2=[[Elephantoidea]]
         |2={{clade
            |1={{extinct}}[[Stegodontidae]] (stegodontids) [[File:Stegodon ganesaDB.jpg|70 px]]
            |label2=[[Elephantidae]]
            |2={{clade
               |1={{clade
|1=''[[Loxodonta]]'' (African elephants) [[File:Elephas africanus - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - (white background).jpg|60 px]]
|2={{extinct}}''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'' (straight-tusked elephants)  [[File:Palaeoloxodon namadicus-bpk (cropped).jpg|60 px]]
}}
                  |2={{clade
                     |1=''[[Elephas]]'' (Asian elephants) [[File:Indian elephant white background.jpg|60 px]]
                     |2={{extinct}}'''''Mammuthus''''' (mammoths) [[File:Mammuthus trogontherii122DB.jpg|70 px]]
                     }}
                  }}
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
}}
It is possible to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the genus through morphological studies. Mammoth species can be identified from the number of enamel ridges/lamellae on their molars; the primitive species had few ridges, which increased gradually as new species evolved and replaced the former ones. At the same time, the crowns of the teeth became longer, and the skulls became higher from top to bottom and shorter from the back to the front over time to accommodate this.<ref name="Mammoth evolution">{{Cite journal |last1=Lister |first1=A. M. |last2=Sher |first2=A. V. |last3=Van Essen |first3=H. |last4=Wei |first4=G. |year=2005 |title=The pattern and process of mammoth evolution in Eurasia |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/13496/files/PAL_E277.pdf |journal=Quaternary International |volume=126–128 |pages=49–64 |bibcode=2005QuInt.126...49L |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2004.04.014}}</ref>

The earliest mammoths, assigned to the species ''[[Mammuthus subplanifrons]]'', are known from southern and eastern Africa, with the earliest records dating to the Late [[Miocene]], around 6.2–5.3 million years ago.<ref name=":22" /> By the Late [[Pliocene]], mammoths had become confined to the northern portions of the African continent with remains from this time assigned to ''[[Mammuthus africanavus]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=William J. |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315118918 |title=Evolution and Fossil Record of African Proboscidea |date=2023-07-07 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-315-11891-8 |edition=1 |location=Boca Raton |pages=245, 252, 263–266 |doi=10.1201/b20016|s2cid=259625811 }}</ref>'' During the Late Pliocene, by 3.2 million years ago, mammoths dispersed into Eurasia via the Sinai Peninsula. The earliest mammoths in Eurasia are assigned to the species ''[[Mammuthus rumanus]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Iannucci |first1=Alessio |last2=Sardella |first2=Raffaele |date=2023-02-28 |title=What Does the "Elephant-Equus" Event Mean Today? Reflections on Mammal Dispersal Events around the Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary and the Flexible Ambiguity of Biochronology |journal=Quaternary |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=16 |doi=10.3390/quat6010016 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023Quat....6...16I |issn=2571-550X|hdl=11573/1680082 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The youngest remains of mammoths in Africa are from Aïn Boucherit, Algeria dating to the Early Pleistocene, around 2.3–2 million years ago (with a possible later record from Aïn Hanech, Algeria, dating to 1.95–1.78 million years ago).''<ref name=":2" />''

''Mammuthus rumanus'' is thought to be the ancestor of ''[[Mammuthus meridionalis]],'' which first appeared at the beginning of the Pleistocene, around 2.6 million years ago.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Lister |first1=Adrian M. |last2=Sher |first2=Andrei V. |last3=van Essen |first3=Hans |last4=Wei |first4=Guangbiao |date=January 2005 |title=The pattern and process of mammoth evolution in Eurasia |journal=Quaternary International |volume=126-128 |pages=49–64 |bibcode=2005QuInt.126...49L |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2004.04.014 |issn=1040-6182|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/13496/files/PAL_E277.pdf }}</ref> ''Mammuthus meridionalis'' subsequently gave rise to ''[[Mammuthus trogontherii]]'' (the steppe mammoth) in Eastern Asia around 1.7 million years ago. Around 1.5–1.3 million years ago, ''M. trogontherii'' crossed the [[Bering Land Bridge]] into North America, becoming ancestral to ''[[Mammuthus columbi]]'' (the Columbian mammoth).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lister |first1=A. M. |last2=Sher |first2=A. V. |date=2015-11-13 |title=Evolution and dispersal of mammoths across the Northern Hemisphere |journal=Science |volume=350 |issue=6262 |pages=805–809 |bibcode=2015Sci...350..805L |doi=10.1126/science.aac5660 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=26564853 |s2cid=206639522}}</ref> At the end of the Early Pleistocene ''Mammuthus trogontherii'' migrated into Europe, replacing ''M. meridionalis'' around 1–0.8 million years ago.<ref name=":3" /> ''[[Mammuthus primigenius]]'' (the woolly mammoth) had evolved from ''M. trogontherii'' in Siberia by around 600,000–500,000 years ago, replacing ''M. trogontherii'' in Europe by around 200,000 years ago, and migrated into North America during the Late Pleistocene.<ref name="Lister 107693">{{Cite journal |last=Lister |first=Adrian M. |date=October 2022 |title=Mammoth evolution in the late Middle Pleistocene: The Mammuthus trogontherii-primigenius transition in Europe |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379122003249 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=294 |pages=107693 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107693|bibcode=2022QSRv..29407693L |s2cid=252264887 }}</ref>

Several [[dwarf mammoth]] species, with small body sizes, evolved on islands as a result of [[insular dwarfism]]. These include ''[[Mammuthus lamarmorai]]'' on Sardinia (late Middle-Late Pleistocene),<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Palombo |first1=Maria Rita |last2=Zedda |first2=Marco |last3=Melis |first3=Rita Teresa |date=November 2017 |title=A new elephant fossil from the late Pleistocene of Alghero: The puzzling question of Sardinian dwarf elephants |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=841–849 |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2017.05.007|bibcode=2017CRPal..16..841P }}</ref> ''[[Mammuthus exilis]]'' on the Channel Islands of California (Late Pleistocene),<ref>{{cite web |last=Agenbroad |first=L. D. |year=2010 |title=. Mammuthus exilis from the California Channel Islands: Height, Mass and Geologic Age |url=http://iws.org/CISProceedings/7th_CIS_Proceedings/Agenbroad.pdf |access-date=13 June 2012 |work=Proceedings of the 7th California Islands Symposium |page=17 |archive-date=8 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608211048/http://iws.org/CISProceedings/7th_CIS_Proceedings/Agenbroad.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> and ''[[Mammuthus creticus]]'' on Crete (Early Pleistocene).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Herridge |first1=V. L. |last2=Lister |first2=A. M. |year=2012 |title=Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=279 |issue=1741 |pages=3193–3300 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0671 |pmc=3385739 |pmid=22572206}}</ref>