Seeing these mammoth fossils reminded me of a lesser-known fact that in 2014, thanks to the tenacity of then third-grader Olivia McConnell, South Carolina adopted the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus ...

Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Dating back to the Ice Age, mastodons refer to a group of giant elephant-like species, including the mammoth, that became extinct around 10,000 years ago.

They also extracted and sequenced DNA from the extinct woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and mastodon (Mammut americanum) -- ancient elephant ancestors.

Current de-extinction studies focus on genetically modifying closely related animals, like the Asian Elephant, with the cold-adaptive traits of the extinct Mammuthus primigenius, better known as ...