The American Mastodon, or Mammut americanum (name meaning "Breast Tooth"), is a genus of Mammutidae that originated during the Late Pliocene epoch in what is now North America. A prehistoric relative of the African Elephant, the American Mastodon is also a cousin of both the Columbian and Woolly Mammoths.
In the Series 3 finale "Mammoth's Undertaking Journey II: The Eternal Frontier", a herd of ten American Mastodons and their young were brought to the park from Late Pleistocene North America 11,000 years ago. They reside in the Mammoth Tundra enclosure with their mammoth relatives.
Facts[]
Era & Discovery[]
The American Mastodon lived in North America during the Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene 3 million to 10,000 years ago where it lived alongside other animals such as Smilodon, Arctodus, Arctotherium, Dire Wolf, Megalonyx, Glyptotherium, the American Lion, and even the mighty Woolly and Columbian Mammoths. They were among the closest relatives of the mammoths and elephants and went extinct at the end of the Ice Age due to global warming and being hunted by humans.
Physical Attributes[]
American Mastodon skeleton
The American Mastodon stood 3.27 meters tall and weighed 11 tons making them similar in size to a modern-day elephant.
The American Mastodon was similar in appearance to the Woolly Mammoth, however unlike mammoths, mastodons were more muscular and had a larger skull. Unlike their mammoth and elephant cousins, they were browsers rather than grazers. American Mastodons' tusks were used against predators or rival males during the mating season. They used their trunks to grab tree branches and other vegetation. Like the Woolly Mammoth, the American Mastodon had a coat of fur that kept them warm during the winter.
Behavior & Traits[]
Like modern elephants and their mammoth relatives, American Mastodons lived in herd made up of several females and their calves led by the matriarch while males lived separately. Like their cousins, the males would undergo musth during the mating season making them very aggressive.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- The sound effects of the American Mastodon are elephant sound effects as well as Oliphaunt sounds from the Lord of the Rings.
- The American Mastodon is the first and only species of Mastodon brought to the park.