How many species of animals are there on Earth? Millions?.. Tens of millions?.. Hundreds of millions?.. The study of the diversity of the animal world is one of the fundamental areas of zoological science. Issues of the new series - “Animal Diversity” are devoted to individual animals, as well as their communities - biocenoses. The books in the series are addressed to students of natural sciences at universities, teachers of colleges, gymnasiums and schools, schoolchildren, ecologists, naturalists and nature lovers. “Alas, the mammoth has become irreversibly extinct” - These are the words from A. N. Tikhonov’s new book “Mammoth”, published no. 3 in the popular science series “Animal Diversity.” According to the geological clock, the disappearance of the mammoth on planet Earth occurred quite recently, and there is still no clear explanation for why it went extinct. Some believe that mammoths are victims of humans, others attribute their death to the Great Flood, and finally, others believe that the disappearance of mammoths is the result of warming and humidification of the climate. But the fact is undeniable - the mammoth, this ancient elephant no longer exists and will never appear again. After reading this book, the reader will learn about what the mammoth was like, the conditions in which it lived and how its relationship with Stone Age man developed. There is no doubt that the reader will be captivated by the stories of the discovery of frozen mammoths, he will find out in which museums in the world you can see stuffed adult mammoths and even baby mammoths, and will also get acquainted with the opinion of experts on whether it is possible to recreate a living mammoth by cloning. The book about mammoths is addressed to those who who is interested in the history of the Earth, its ancient and modern fauna, as well as zoology - the science of the animal world. The publication is supported by the Program of the Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Fundamental Foundations of Biological Resources Management" and the Program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Scientific Foundations of the Conservation of Biodiversity of Russia". Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences< /p>