mastodont

The mastodon is a genus of extinct proboscidean mammals that lived during the late Miocene to the early Pleistocene epochs, approximately 10 million to 100,000 years ago. Often confused with the woolly mammoth, the mastodon was a close relative but belonged to a different evolutionary lineage. Fossil evidence suggests that mastodons were widespread across North America, Europe, and Asia, thriving in diverse environments ranging from dense forests to open woodlands.

Mastodons were large herbivores, standing about 10 to 12 feet (3 to 3.6 meters) tall at the shoulder and weighing between 4 to 6 tons. Their most distinctive feature was their long, curved tusks, which grew continuously throughout their lives. Unlike mammoths, mastodons had lower, flatter skulls and smaller, more rounded molars, adapted for grinding tough vegetation. Their bodies were covered in short, coarse hair, and they possessed a prehensile trunk, similar to modern elephants, which they used to grasp food and manipulate objects.

Mastodons played a significant ecological role in their habitats, shaping landscapes through browsing and seed dispersal. Their decline is believed to have been influenced by a combination of climate change, habitat loss, and human hunting pressure during the Pleistocene extinction event. By the end of the last ice age, mastodons had gone extinct, though their fossils remain a valuable source of information for paleontologists studying the evolution of large mammals.

Today, the term "mastodon" is sometimes used colloquially to describe any large, prehistoric elephant-like creature, though scientifically, it refers specifically to the genus *Mammut*. The discovery of mastodon fossils has contributed to our understanding of past ecosystems and the broader history of mammalian evolution.