MASTODON
americanus
This unusual large mammal lived in North America during the
Pleistocene epoch until the end of the ice age. It roamed the earth
for over a million years, but suddenly disappeared (perhaps because
of the climate changes). It was one of the largest land animals living
during the ice age. Mastodon belonged to the family Mammutidae, that
originated in North Africa, spreading to Eurasia and entering North America
15 million years ago. Its name means "nipple tooth". These elephant-like animals were affected by environmental changes.
Mastodons living during the middle of the last glaciation were small,
whereas those living later in forests were larger. It was mostly adapted to
conifer forests and marsh. It fed on plants (conifer twigs, swamp plants,
larch, spruce, pine, grass, mosses, etc.) and used its tusks to break
branches.
Mastodon had rather short, straight tusks and sharp cheek teeth. Females were smaller, their tusks were lighter and smaller than those of males. They
had coats of fine underwool, overlain by abundant hair (2-7 inches in
length).
Fossils of mastodons are commonly found all over the North America and Canada. Mastodon americanus was first recognized in 1799 by well-known
French anatomist Baron Cuvier.
RANGE: North America, Canada
SIZE: about 4.5 m long body, 2-3 m in shoulder height
TIME - Pleistocene |
