A mastodon is an extinct proboscidean mammal that belonged to the genus Mammut. These prehistoric creatures inhabited North and Central America from the late Miocene to the end of the Pleistocene, approximately 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. Mastodons were distant relatives of modern elephants and mammoths, and they shared some similarities with their living counterparts, such as tusks, flappy ears, and a long nose.
The name "mastodon" comes from the Greek words "mastós," meaning "breast," and "odoús," meaning "tooth," referring to the characteristic shape of their molar teeth. Unlike mammoths, which had ridged molars for grazing on grasses, mastodons had blunt, cone-shaped molars that were used for clipping and crushing twigs, leaves, and other parts of shrubs and trees. They were predominantly browsing animals and ate plants that grew near swamps and wet areas in woodlands.
Mastodons were slightly smaller than mammoths and had different feeding habits and tooth structures. While mammoths had ridged molars that cut plants, mastodons had cone-shaped cusps on their molars for crushing vegetation. The main theories for their extinction include climate change and/or human hunting.
