﻿274 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPOKT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  THE 
  MAMMOTH 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  of 
  these 
  species 
  is 
  the 
  mammoth, 
  which 
  once 
  occupied 
  

   large 
  areas 
  in 
  Europe, 
  Asia, 
  and 
  North 
  America 
  in 
  numbers 
  probably 
  

   comparable 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  bison. 
  Primitive 
  man, 
  who 
  was 
  

   well 
  acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  mammoth, 
  has 
  left 
  us 
  true 
  pictures 
  of 
  this 
  

   animal. 
  Although 
  he 
  used 
  the 
  mammoth 
  for 
  food, 
  it 
  is 
  doubtful 
  

   whether 
  he 
  was 
  eager 
  to 
  hunt 
  this 
  huge 
  and 
  dangerous 
  beast, 
  especially 
  

   as 
  he 
  had 
  at 
  his 
  disposal 
  a 
  great 
  variety 
  of 
  game 
  that 
  was 
  more 
  easily 
  

   obtained. 
  He 
  could 
  occasionally 
  kill 
  a 
  mammoth 
  that 
  had 
  plunged 
  

   into 
  a 
  bog, 
  fallen 
  into 
  a 
  pit, 
  or 
  had 
  otherwise 
  become 
  entrapped, 
  but, 
  

   as 
  has 
  often 
  been 
  suggested, 
  he 
  certainly 
  did 
  not 
  hunt 
  it 
  so 
  much 
  as 
  

   to 
  exterminate 
  it. 
  The 
  extinction 
  of 
  the 
  mammoth 
  has 
  been 
  explained 
  

   as 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  defects 
  in 
  its 
  organization 
  or 
  of 
  changes 
  in 
  climate. 
  A 
  

   critical 
  review 
  of 
  these 
  explanations 
  shows 
  that 
  the 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  

   defects 
  of 
  organization 
  of 
  the 
  mammoth 
  are 
  either 
  erroneous 
  or 
  deal 
  

   with 
  unimportant 
  features, 
  and 
  explanations 
  of 
  extinction 
  by 
  a 
  change 
  

   in 
  climate 
  are 
  of 
  little 
  significance, 
  because 
  the 
  mammoth 
  was 
  wonder- 
  

   fully 
  adapted 
  to 
  the 
  physicogeographical 
  conditions, 
  including 
  the 
  

   climate, 
  under 
  which 
  it 
  lived 
  and 
  died 
  out. 
  The 
  extinction 
  of 
  the 
  

   mammoth 
  is 
  therefore 
  no 
  less 
  mysterious 
  than 
  the 
  extinction 
  of 
  the 
  

   trilobites, 
  the 
  ammonites, 
  and 
  the 
  Mesozoic 
  reptiles. 
  But 
  the 
  mam- 
  

   moth, 
  like 
  all 
  animals 
  doomed 
  to 
  extinction, 
  became 
  highly 
  specialized 
  

   or 
  even 
  overspecialized. 
  The 
  extreme 
  complexity 
  of 
  the 
  teeth 
  of 
  the 
  

   Siberian 
  mammoth,^* 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  considered 
  an 
  adaptation 
  to 
  the 
  

   harsh 
  vegetation 
  of 
  the 
  north, 
  but 
  which 
  was 
  probably 
  an 
  expression 
  

   of 
  extreme 
  specialization, 
  was 
  accompanied 
  by 
  peculiarly 
  constructed 
  

   tusks 
  and 
  by 
  4-toed 
  feet. 
  The 
  feet 
  of 
  other 
  elephants 
  are 
  5-toed, 
  

   although 
  in 
  some 
  species, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  African 
  elephant, 
  they 
  show 
  

   a 
  tendency 
  toward 
  the 
  reduction 
  of 
  the 
  lateral 
  digits 
  of 
  the 
  hind 
  foot.^^ 
  

   During 
  its 
  long 
  existence 
  in 
  an 
  Arctic 
  climate 
  the 
  mammoth 
  also 
  devel- 
  

   oped 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  features 
  as 
  a 
  protection 
  against 
  cold. 
  Each 
  of 
  these 
  

   features 
  is 
  highly 
  specialized 
  or 
  even 
  overspecialized. 
  It 
  may 
  there- 
  

   fore 
  be 
  suggested 
  that 
  the 
  mammoth, 
  having, 
  like 
  other 
  extinct 
  animals 
  

   lost 
  racial 
  vitality, 
  was 
  doomed 
  to 
  extinction, 
  owing 
  to 
  overspecializa- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  was 
  therefore 
  unable 
  to 
  maintain 
  the 
  natural 
  balance. 
  

  

  steller's 
  sea 
  cow 
  

  

  Another 
  example 
  of 
  the 
  recent 
  extinction 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  is 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  

   history 
  of 
  Steller's 
  sea 
  cow. 
  Discovered 
  living 
  near 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  

   islands 
  in 
  Bering 
  Strait 
  by 
  the 
  Bering 
  expedition 
  in 
  1741, 
  it 
  was 
  com- 
  

   pletely 
  exterminated 
  during 
  the 
  next 
  few 
  years. 
  ^^ 
  It 
  was 
  extermi- 
  

  

  « 
  R. 
  S. 
  Lull, 
  Organic 
  evolution, 
  p. 
  602. 
  

  

  25 
  Idem, 
  p. 
  580. 
  

  

  2' 
  A. 
  Th. 
  Middendorfl, 
  Reise 
  in 
  den 
  aussersten 
  Norden 
  and 
  osten 
  Sibiriens, 
  Bd. 
  IV, 
  Th. 
  2, 
  S. 
  841. 
  

  

  