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The southern mammoth (Mammuthus meridionalis) is the most abundant mega-herbivore at Fuente Nueva 3, with at least ten individuals. In 2003 a specimen with its bones still in anatomical connection appeared in level 5, together with stone tools and hyena coprolites.
What happened to that animal is still debated. In 2013 it was interpreted as competition between humans and the giant hyena for the carcass. In 2024 the team that now researches the site described it as a female and pointed to marks compatible with human cut marks and to tooth marks of sabre-toothed cats; in 2026 the authors of the 2013 study published a critical comment on that reading.
The site also preserves two tusks about 3.5 metres long from a large male, restored in place under the shelter built in 2018.
Source: Espigares, M. P. et al. (2013) and (2026); Yravedra, J. et al. (2024), Quaternary Science Reviews; Barsky, D. et al. (2024), Anuario Arqueológico de Andalucía.
