mammoth, name for several large prehistoric elephants of the extinct genus Mammuthus, which ranged over Eurasia and North America in the Pleistocene epoch. The shoulder height of the Siberian, or woolly, mammoth, which roamed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, was about 9 ft (2.7 m), and that of the imperial mammoth of the North American Great Plains was up to 131/2 ft (4.1 m). Mammoths were covered by a long, shaggy, black outer coat and a dense, woolly undercoat. They had complex, many-ridged molar teeth; long, slender upward-curved tusks; and a long trunk. Ivory hunters have collected their tusks for centuries in Siberia, where some 50,000 have been discovered; it is from these and from the drawings left by the Cro-Magnon people in the caves of S France that the mammoth's appearance is known. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) people hunted mammoths, as is evidenced by remains of the animals found together with tools, and may have contributed to their extinction. Mammoths are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Proboscidea, family Elephantidae.

Mammoth Cave National Park, 52,830 acres (21,396 hectares), central Kentucky, authorized 1926, est. 1941. Located in a hilly, forested region, it offers numerous outdoor activities. It is the site of Mammoth Cave, the longest recorded cave system in the world. Composed of a series of subterranean chambers and narrow passages formed by the dissolution of limestone, the cave has five separate levels. The known passages have a combined length of over 345 mi (555 km), disclosing limestone formations (stalactites, stalagmites, and columns), lakes, and rivers. Echo River, c.360 ft (110 m) below the surface, flows through the cave's lowest level and drains into the Green River. Hanson's Lost River, an underground stream, joins Mammoth Cave with the extensive Flint Ridge cave system; this long-sought link was discovered in 1972. The temperature (54°F;/12°C;) and relative humidity (87%) remain constant during the year throughout the cave. The cave contains the mummified body of a man believed to date from the pre-Columbian period. Bats, eyeless fish, and insects are also found. Mammoth Cave was a long-time Native American habitation before it was explored by Kentucky pioneers in 1799. During the War of 1812, saltpeter was mined in the cave for gunpowder. See National Parks and Monuments (table).

Any of several species (genus Mammuthus) of extinct elephants whose fossils have been found in Pleistocene deposits (beginning 1.8 million years ago) on every continent except Australia and South America. The woolly, Northern, or Siberian mammoth (M. primigenius) is the best-known species because the Siberian permafrost preserved numerous carcasses intact. Most species were about the size of modern elephants; some were much smaller. The North American imperial mammoth (M. imperator) grew to a shoulder height of 14 ft (4 m). Many species had a short, woolly undercoat and a long, coarse outer coat. Mammoths had a high, domelike skull and small ears. Their long, downward-pointing tusks sometimes curved over each other. Cave paintings show them traveling in herds. Mammoths survived until about 10,000 years ago; hunting by humans may have been a cause of their extinction. Seealso mastodon.

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National park, southwest-central Kentucky, U.S. The park, authorized in 1926 and established in 1941, occupies a surface area of 82 sq mi (212 sq km) that covers a system of limestone caverns. In 1972 a passage was discovered linking the Mammoth Cave and the Flint Ridge Cave System; the explored underground passages have a combined length of some 329 mi (530 km). The caves are inhabited by various animals that have undergone evolutionary adaptation to the dark, including cave crickets, blindfish, and blind crayfish. Mummified Indian bodies, possibly of pre-Columbian origin, have been found in the caves.

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