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Any of several extinct elephant species (genus Mastodon) that
lived worldwide 23.7 million–10,000 years ago or later in North
America, where they were contemporaneous with historic American
Indian groups. Well-preserved remains are quite common.
Mastodons ate leaves and had small grinding teeth and long,
parallel, upward-curving upper tusks; males also had short lower
tusks. Shorter than modern elephants, they had long, heavily
built bodies and short, pillarlike legs. Their long hair was
reddish brown. The skull was similar to that of modern elephants
but lower and flatter, and the ears were small. Human hunting
may have played a role in the mastodon's extinction. See
alsomammoth. This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica
Concise. For the full entry on mastodon, visit Britannica.com.