Mastodons or Mastodonts (Greek: µast?? "nipple" and ?d??? , "tooth") refers to the large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut endemic to Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, living from 33.9 mya—11,000 years ago, existing for approximately {{#ifeq:. [1] The genus gives its name to the family Mammutidae, assigned to the order Proboscidea. They superficially resemble the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius , which are classified within another proboscidean family, Elephantidae; Mastodons were browsers while mammoths were grazers.

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Habitat

Mastodons first appeared almost 40 million years ago with the oldest fossil unearthed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as Mastodon sp. Fossils having been found in Bolivia, England, Germany, the Netherlands, North America, and Romania ^[2] and northern Greece. Mammut americanum is generally reported as having disappeared from North America about 10,000 years ago, ^[3] at the same time as most other Pleistocene megafauna. However more recent radiocarbon dates have been found, such as 5200 BCE in Seneca, Michigan, ^[4] 5140 BCE in Utah, ^[5] 4150 BCE in Washtenaw, Michigan, ^[6] 4080 BCE in Lapeer, Michigan. ^[7] It is known from fossils found ranging from present-day Alaska and New England in the north, to Florida, southern California, Mexico, and as far south as Honduras. ^[8]

Though their habitat spanned a large territory, mastodons were most common in the ice age spruce forests of the eastern United States, as well as in warmer lowland environments. ^[9] Their remains have been found as far as 300 kilometers offshore of the northeastern United States, in areas that were dry land during the low sea level stand of the last ice age. ^[10] Mastodon fossils have been found on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, USA (Manis Mastodon Site), ^[11] in Kentucky (particularly noteworthy are early finds in what is now Big Bone Lick State Park);the floodplain of the East Branch of the DuPage River, near Glen Ellyn, Illinois; ^[12] the Kimmswick Bone Bed in Missouri; in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, Canada; at a number of sites in New York State; ^[13] in Richland County, Wisconsin (Boaz mastodon); La Grange, Texas; Southern Louisiana; north of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Savannah, Georgia; and Johnstown, Ohio ^[14] USA.

Description

While mastodons were furry like woolly mammoths ^[15] and similar in height at roughly three meters at the shoulder, the resemblance was superficial. They differed from mammoths primarily in the blunt, conical, nipple-like projections on the crowns of their molars, ^[16] which were more suited to chewing leaves than the high-crowned teeth mammoths used for grazing; the name mastodon (or mastodont ) means "nipple teeth" and is also an obsolete name for their genus. ^[17] Their skulls were larger and flatter than those of mammoths, while their skeleton was stockier and more robust. ^[18] A few skeletons have been found with the fur still attached; examination of the hair suggests that mastodons also lacked the undercoat characteristic of mammoths.

The tusks of the mastodon sometimes exceeded five meters in length and were nearly horizontal, in contrast with the more curved mammoth tusks. Young males had vestigial lower tusks that were lost in adulthood. However, it has been proven that female mastodons had lower pairs of tusks. The tusks were probably used to break branches and twigs, although some evidence suggests males may have used them in mating challenges; one tusk is often shorter than the other, suggesting that, like humans and modern elephants, mastodons may have had laterality. Examination of fossilized tusks revealed a series of regularly spaced shallow pits on the underside of the tusks. Microscopic examination showed damage to the dentin under the pits. It is theorized that the damage was caused when the males were fighting over mating rights. The curved shape of the tusks would have forced them downward with each blow, causing damage to the newly forming ivory at the base of the tusk. The regularity of the damage in the growth patterns of the tusks indicates that this was an annual occurrence, probably occurring during the spring and early summer. ^[19]

Extinction

Recent studies indicate that tuberculosis may have been partly responsible for the extinction of the mastodon 10,000 years ago. ^[20]

Another influencing factor to their eventual extinction in America during the late Pleistocene may have been the presence of Paleo-Indians, who entered the American continent in relatively large numbers 13,000 years ago. ^[21] Their hunting caused a gradual attrition to the mastodon and mammoth populations, significant enough that over time the mastodons were hunted to extinction. ^[22]

In September 2007, Mark Holley, an underwater archaeologist with the Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve Council who teaches at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan, said that they might have discovered a boulder (3.5 to high x long) with a prehistoric carving in the Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan. The granite rock has markings that resemble a mastodon with a spear in its side. Confirmation that the markings are an ancient petroglyph will require more evidence. ^[23]

Current excavations

thumb Excavations conducted from 1993 through early 2000 at the Diamond Valley Lake reservoir outside of Hemet in Riverside County, California yielded numerous remains of mastodon, as well as numerous other Pleistocene animals. The abundance of these remains, all recovered by paleontologists from the San Bernardino County Museum, led to the site being nicknamed the "Valley of the Mastodons".

Current excavations are going on annually at the Hiscock Site in Byron, New York, for mastodon and related paleo-Indian artifacts. The site was discovered in 1959 by the Hiscock family while digging a pond with a backhoe; they found a large tusk and stopped digging. The Buffalo Museum of Science has organized the dig since 1983. Popularly recognized as one of the richest sites available for mastodon-related artifacts, the site sits on swampland that was covered by Lake Tonawanda, a glacier runoff lake formed over 10,000 years ago. It has been confirmed that mastodons congregated there to eat the sodium-rich clay during one of the last great droughts of the Paleolithic.

There were also excavations at Montgomery, New York in the late 1990s.

In August 2008, miners in Romania unearthed the skeleton of a 2.5 million-year-old mastodon, believed to be one of the best preserved in Europe ^[24]. Ninety percent of the skeleton's bones were intact, with damage to the skull and tusks. In 2009 a family in Portland, Michigan unearthed mastodon bones while excavating a new pond on their property. It is one of approximately 250 mastodons found in Michigan over the past century. ^[25]

As of July 2009, six mastodon fossils were discovered in Elmacik village of Kemer town of south-western province of Burdur, Turkey in the past four years. Also the first excavation to discover mastodon fossils took place in Elmacik village in 2006. ^[26]

In August 2009 workers in Indiana digging a coal slurry storage pit unearthed mastadon remains. These remains include pieces of ribs, skull, tusks, and a kneecap. Remains have been turned over to the Indiana State Museum for study and preservation. ^[27]

See also

• Island 35 Mastodon
• List of museums and colleges with mastodon fossils on display

References

1. PaleoBiology Database: ''Mammut'', basic info
2. 2.5 million-year-old mastodon unearthed in Romania
3. Greek mastodon find 'spectacular'
4. Richard E. Morlan, Bruggeman Mastodon, Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database, www.canadianarchaeology.ca/localc14/c14search.htm, (Hull Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization), retrieved online October 2008).
5. Wade E. Miller, “Mammut Americanum: Utah’s First Record of the American Mastodon”, Journal of Paleontology, Volume 61, Number 1, (The Paleontological Society, 1987), 168-183.
6. Margaret Ann Skeels, “The Mastodons and Mammoths of Michigan”, Michigan Academician, Volume XXXIV, Number 3, (Ann Arbor: Michigan Academy of Science, 2002), 254.
7. H. R. Crane and James B. Griffin, Russell Farm, “University of Michigan Radiocarbon Dates IV”, Radiocarbon, Volume 1, Number 1, (New Haven: Yale, 1959), 178.
8. The World of Elephants - Proceedings of the 1st International Congress, Rome October 16-20 2001
9. Kurtén, Björn and Elaine Anderson. ''Pleistocene Mammals of North America.'' New York: Columbia University Press, 1980, p. 344.
10. Kurtén and Anderson, p. 344.
11. Kirk, Ruth and Richard D. Daugherty. ''Archaeology in Washington.'' Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007.
12. http://www.wheaton.edu/Perry/start/start.html
13. Allmon, Warren D. and Peter L. Nester, editors. ''Mastodon Paleobiology, Taphonomy, and Paleoenvironment in the Late Pleistocene of New York State: Studies on the Hyde Park, Chemung, and North Java Sites.'' Ithaca, N.Y.: Paleontological Research Institution, 2008.
14. http://www.villageofjohnstown.org/history.html
15. The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals
16. Mastodons
17. Mammoths, Sabretooths, and Hominids
18. Kurtén and Anderson, p. 345
19. Tusk cementum defects record musth battles in American mastodons
20. Mastodons Driven to Extinction by Tuberculosis, Fossils Suggest
21. World History: Patterns of Interaction
22. The Call of Distant Mammoths
23. Possible mastodon carving found on rock
24. 2.5 million-year-old mastodon unearthed in Romania, ''USA Today'', 2008-08-08, Retrieved on 11 August 2008
25. Michigan Family Finds Prehistoric Bones - Mastodon Bones To Be Given To University Of Michigan
26. Mastodon Fossils Discovered In Burdur/Turkey
27. http://www.theindychannel.com/news/20445022/detail.html