# What exactly is an oliphaunt?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-an-oliphaunt/969670>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** middle-earth, books-writing-myths\
**Created:** [August 15, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-an-oliphaunt/969670 "2022-08-15T00:22:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-an-oliphaunt/969670/21 "2022-08-15T13:23:31Z")

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Thomas Jefferson, in his instructions to Lewis and Clark, asked them to keep on the lookout for woolly mammoths during their expedition, not knowing that they were long extinct.

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