Mastodon

:This article is about the prehistoric elephant. For other uses of the word see Mastodon (disambiguation)

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Mastodonts are members of an extinct genus of the order Proboscidea; they resembled, but were distinct from, the wooly mammoth.

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The American mastodont (Mammut americanum) lived in North America. They first appeared almost four million years ago and became extinct approximately 10,000 years ago. They were furry, and had a height of about three meters. They differed from mammoths primarily in the blunt, conical shape of their teeth http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/mastodon_tooth.html, which were more suited to chewing leaves than to grazing; the name mastodon (or mastodont) means mastoid teeth (Greek μαστός and ὀδούς, "nipple tooth"), and is also an obsolete name for their genus.

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The tusks of the mastodont sometimes exceeded five meters in length. Their meat was a food source for early humans, and archeologists are still trying to determine what role, if any, the early human settlers of North America played in the extinction of the mastodont.

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Extinct: REDIRECT extinction...

Genus: :...

Wooly mammoth: REDIRECT Woolly mammoth...

Mastodon related Images and Photos (experimental)

Mastodon: Blood Mountain	Mastodon: Blood Mountain	Mastodon - Dueling	Mastodon: Crack the Skye CD
Mastodon: Crack the Skye CD	Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels	Artwork of a mammoth and a mastodon