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About Mammuthus:
Unlike the case with dinosaurs, paleontologists know exactly what Mammuthus (better known as the woolly mammoth) looked like, thanks to the discovery of complete specimens buried in Arctic permafrost. About the size of modern elephants, mammoths were distinguished by the humps on their shoulders, their long, woolly hair, and (especially in the most famous species, Mammuthus primigenius) their enormous, curved tusks.
Unlike its leaf-eating relative, Mammut (informally known as the mastodon), Mammuthus grazed on grass, like an enormous cow. Thanks to various cave paintings, we know that Mammuthus was hunted to extinction by prehistoric humans, who likely coveted its shaggy coat as much as its meat. Amazingly, a pygmy species of Mammuthus managed to survive until 4,000 B.C. on Wrangel Island, in the Arctic Ocean.
It may yet be possible to "clone" a woolly mammoth, by scraping together enough preserved genetic material to constitute an entire genome and implanting the fertilized egg in a modern elephant. Unfortunately, this same technique won't work for dinosaurs, since there's no prospect of assembling a complete dinosaur genome (much less finding a living relative to complete the gestation).
