A model of a mammoth - a hairy elephant that lived in the frozen north. The last mammoth died about 4,500 years ago.
The Pleistocene stage or epoch was a long period of time. It stretched from 2.6 million years ago to 11,700 years ago. The Pleistocene followed the Pliocene. It is the first stage of the Quaternary period, and is followed by the present Holocene.