Elephant vs. Mammoth — What's the Difference?

The largest land animal existing today.

A prehistoric, hairy relative of the modern elephant.

A symbol of strength and power in various cultures.

Inhabited cold regions during the Pleistocene era.

Known for its intelligence and memory.

Larger in size compared to many of today's elephants.

A large herbivorous mammal with a trunk.

An extinct species with significant cultural importance.

Endangered due to poaching and habitat loss.

Known for its long, curved tusks.

Elephants are a select group of proboscideans belonging to the family Elephantidae. They are the largest existing land animals.

A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus Mammuthus, one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair.

Any of several very large herbivorous mammals of the family Elephantidae native to Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, having thick, almost hairless skin, a long, flexible, prehensile trunk, upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory, and, in the African species, large fan-shaped ears.

Any of various extinct elephants of the genus Mammuthus of the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene Epochs, having ridged molars and often, as in the woolly mammoth, long tusks and hair.

Any of various extinct animals of the family Elephantidae.

Something that is of great size.

A mammal of the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and two large ivory tusks jutting from the upper jaw.

Of enormous size, extent, or amount; huge.

(in particular) Any member of the subfamily Elephantinae not also of the genera Mammuthus and Primelephas.

Of great scope or importance

(figuratively) Anything huge and ponderous.

Any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, of large, usually hairy, elephant-like mammals with long curved tusks and an inclined back, which became extinct with the last retreat of ice age glaciers during the late Pleistocene period, and are known from fossils, frozen carcasses, and Paleolithic cave paintings found in North America and Eurasia.

Synonym of elephant paper

(obsolete) A mastodon.

Used when counting to add length, so that each count takes about one second

(figuratively) Something very large of its kind.

Ivory.

Comparable to a mammoth in its size; very large, huge, gigantic.

(xiangqi) A xiangqi piece, that is moved two points diagonally, may not jump over intervening pieces and may not cross the river.

An extinct, hairy, maned elephant (Mammuthus primigenius formerly Elephas primigenius), of enormous size, remains of which are found in the northern parts of both continents. The last of the race, in Europe, were coeval with prehistoric man.

A mammal of the order Proboscidia and family Elephantidae, of which two living species, Elephas maximus (formerly Elephas Indicus) and Loxodonta Africana (formerly E. Africanus), and several fossil species, are known. They have five toes, a long proboscis or trunk, and two large ivory tusks proceeding from the extremity of the upper jaw, and curving upwards. The molar teeth are large and have transverse folds. Elephants are the largest land animals now existing. The elephant is classed as a pachyderm.

Resembling the mammoth in size; very large; gigantic; as, a mammoth ox.

Ivory; the tusk of the elephant.

Any of numerous extinct elephants widely distributed in the Pleistocene; extremely large with hairy coats and long upcurved tusks

Five-toed pachyderm

So exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth;

The symbol of the Republican Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874

No, Elephants are modern mammals while Mammoths were their prehistoric relatives.

Mammoths primarily inhabited the colder regions of Europe, Asia, and North America.

Yes, particularly due to poaching and habitat loss.

A combination of climate change and human hunting contributed to their extinction.

No, Elephants have mostly hairless, thick skin, while Mammoths had a thick, hairy coat.

For digging, fighting, lifting objects, and gathering food.

Yes, early humans coexisted with Mammoths and even hunted them.

Elephants are the closest living relatives of Mammoths.

In parts of Africa and Asia, including national parks and wildlife reserves.

They are herbivores, consuming grass, fruits, and tree bark.

Some species of Mammoths were larger than modern Elephants, but size varied among species.

No, there were different species, like the Woolly Mammoth and the Columbian Mammoth.