Mammoths were hairy elephants of the genus Mammuthus. They lived in Europe until 4,500 years ago, and were adapted to cold climate. They were killed off by hunters and climate change.
They lived in the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. In the Pleistocene, northern Europe was covered with ice and tundra. There were a series of ice ages, which allowed the mammoths to spread across the land.
Mammoths were hunted by early humans, who used spears, and cut them up with hand axes. Their frozen flesh has been analysed for its DNA sequence.