Remains of "M. exilis" have been discovered on three of the northern Channel Islands of California since 1856: Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel, which together with Anacapa were the highest portions of the now mostly submerged superisland of Santa Rosae. The late Pleistocene elephant appears to have survived on the islands until the arrival of the humans associated with Arlington Springs Man around 13,000 years ago and the last known mammoth occurrence was 13–12.9 thousand years ago which predates the later Chumash people's arrival during the early Holocene, between 10,800 and 11,300 years ago. Radiocarbon dating indicates "M. exilis" existed on the island for at least 47,000 years prior (which is the approximate limit of the dating method).