The Mastodon

Mammut americanum Compared to modern elephants, mastodons were squat and long in the body. Often vestigial tusks were present in their lower jaws. Shoulder height varied from about 2 m to 2.6 m. Hair was coarse and reddish brown. This species was confined to North America, and was most common in the east, where it found favourable habitat in spruce forests or open spruce woodlands. Mastodons are known to have eaten conifer twigs and cones, leaves, grasses, and swamp plants. Scimitar cats evidently hunted young mastodons, while adults were sometimes killed by Paleo-Indians. Mastodons lived throughout the Ice Age (the last 2,000,000 years), dying out about 9,000 years ago.

 

 

 

 

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