About
The character "犸" is the simplified form of "獁", both created specifically for the term "猛犸" to denote the mammoth. Its structure is a phono-semantic compound, incorporating the animal radical 豸 and the phonetic component 马 or 馬, which indicates the pronunciation "mǎ". This character was devised in the modern period to translate the foreign concept of the mammoth into Chinese, and due to its specialized zoological reference, it has not developed broader or alternative meanings since its introduction.