The American Mastodon (Mammut americanum) was a distant relative of the ancestors of the elephant. During the Pleistocene, it ranged from Alaska to Florida. The American Mastodon stood up to 10 feet tall and weighed 5 to 7 tons. The American Mastodon flourished from about 17 million years ago until about 8,000 years ago.
Mastodons are different from mammoths and from other elephants in that it has a smaller size and simple, low-crowned teeth. In looking at the differences between mastodons and mammoths, Ian Lange, in his book Ice Age Mammals of North America: A Guide to the Big, the Hairy, and the Bizarre, reports:
“While individual teeth of mastodons have cone-shaped grinding surfaces, the eating surfaces of mammoth teeth are formed of ridges, like those of modern elephants. Mammoth skulls were domed while mastodon skulls were low-browed. And while mammoths were considerably taller, mastodons had proportionally longer and more massive bodies.”
The American Mastodon generally inhabited forests or woodlands characterized by spruce and evergreen trees.
Since 1875, paleontologists have been recovering fossils from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. These fossil remains include American Mastodons. Some of the mastodon fossils are on display in the La Brea Tar Pits Museum (also known as the Page Museum). Shown in the display below is a female mastodon and her six-year-old youngster which were trapped together in the asphalt.
Paleontology 101
Paleontology is the study of the ancient past and evolution through fossils. More from La Brea Tar Pits:
Paleontology 101: Sloths at La Brea Tar Pits
Paleontology 101: The Dire Wolf (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: Columbian Mammoths at the La Brea Tar Pits
Paleontology 101: Ancient Cats (Photo Diary)
And more paleontology from other museums:
Paleontology 101: The North American Camel
Paleontology 101: The Hagerman Horse, Equus Simplicidens
Paleontology 101: Some Ancient Horses
Paleontology 101: The California Pleistocene (Photo Diary)