Have you ever seen a replica of a Woolly Mammoth? These things are freaking massive. Most kids these days recognize this prehistoric animal from the popular kid's movie, Ice Age.

You can now see a real, life-size, replica of a woolly mammoth in Iowa! These animals are often compared to the African elephants we see today and for good reason. They are cousins. While the animals are similar, there are some distinct differences.

According to AZ Animals, the elephants we see today live in Africa and Asia. Woolly Mammoths ranged a lot further than that, covering a much broader territory. Woolly Mammoths also had thick, "wooly" coats, while today's elephants do not. When the prehistoric Woolly Mammoth was roaming the earth, they often needed to adapt to cold environments.

Woolly Mammoths also had bigger tusks than today's elephants. Mammoth tusks were able to grow up to 16 feet long. According to AZ Animals, the longest elephant tusk in recorded history was 11 feet and 7 inches long.

They also are very comparable in size. Woolly mammoths and elephants are pretty close in height but mammoths definitely weighed more. The extra weight helped them to combat the colder climates

Woolly Mammoth In Iowa

In 2010, John Boggess discovered woolly mammoth bones right here in Iowa, according to KCRG. He and one of his sons made the discovery after seeing a bone poking out of the ground near a creak in Mahaska County. He told KCRG, he knew what it was right away. He said

I knew what it was pretty much right off the bat. An expert from Illinois told me that the one mammoth we found would have been about three feet taller than the one he discovered.

These bones are supposedly the first evidence of Iowa having any type of mammoth population. According to KCRG, "the county conservation board says the bones are the first scientific evidence of a Mammoth population in Iowa."

A replica of the Mammoth display is up at the Educational Learning Center in Oskaloosa, Iowa.