Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 29, 2016
The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was a species of mammoth that inhabited the western hemisphere from Costa Rica to the northern United States during the Pleistocene epoch. It evolved from the steppe mammoth, which entered North America from Asia about 1.5 million years ago. Reaching 4 m (13 ft) at the shoulders and 8–10 tonnes (18,000–22,000 lb) in weight, the Columbian mammoth was one of the largest species of mammoth. It used its tusks and trunk for manipulating objects, fighting, and foraging. The species preferred open areas and fed on sedge, grass, and other plants. Its range may have overlapped with that of the woolly mammoths, which inhabited the Arctic regions of Canada. Columbian mammoths coexisted in North America for a few thousand years with Palaeoamericans, who hunted them for food, used their bones to make tools, and depicted them in art. Columbian mammoth remains have been found in association with Clovis culture artefacts. The species disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene around 11,000 years ago, most likely as a result of habitat loss caused by climate change, hunting by humans, or both. (Full article...)