mastodons

Mastodons are an extinct group of large herbivorous mammals in the family Mammutidae, a lineage of proboscideans related to elephants and mammoths. The best known member is the American mastodon, Mammut americanum, with fossils found across North America and in parts of Europe and Asia. They lived from the late Miocene through the end of the Pleistocene and disappeared around 11,000 years ago, near the end of the last Ice Age.

Physically, mastodons had robust bodies, relatively short legs, and long tusks. Their teeth were distinctive: low-crowned molars with cone-shaped cusps encased in enamel, arranged in rows for chewing leaves and twigs. These teeth wore down and were replaced by successive sets, unlike the high-crowned plates of mammoths that suited grazing.

Ecology and behavior are inferred from fossils: mastodons were likely social browsers, living in herds in forests and wetlands, using their tusks to strip bark, dig for roots, and manipulate branches. Their movements and diets suggest a preference for wooded or brushy environments rather than open grasslands.

Extinction occurred by the end of the Pleistocene, likely due to a combination of climate change, habitat shifts, and in some regions human hunting pressures. Mastodon fossils are important for understanding megafaunal ecosystems and the patterns of extinction at the end of the Ice Age.