It's no secret that unique animals lived in the ancient world, which, unfortunately or fortunately, we were not destined to see. But massive and huge remains testify to the greatness and strength of these mammals. So, in the past, animals adapted to the environment, and even individuals of the same species could change under its influence. Many are interested in such a unique mammal as a mastodon. This is an animal from the proboscis order, which in many ways resembled mammoths, but also had differences from them.
Characteristics of mastodons
In our time, no one thinks that perhaps the mastodon is the brightest ancestor of the ordinary elephant. The main common feature of animals, of course, is the trunk, as well as their huge size compared to other inhabitants of the wild. However, it was found that the mastodons were no larger than the elephants that we can see today in zoos or on TV.
Mastodons are considered extinct mammals. They had similar features with other representatives of the proboscis squad, but there were also differences. The main one is the structure of the teeth. These large mammals on the chewing surface of the molars had pairednipples. And mammoths and elephants had transverse ridges on their molars, which were separated by cement.
Origin of the name "mastodon"
It is interesting that the mastodon is translated from Greek as “nipple”, “tooth”. Therefore, the name of the animal comes from the structural features of its teeth. Note that some individuals had tusks in the lower jaw area, which (according to scientists) were transformed from the second incisors.
Mastodons were considered herbivores, unable to harm any neighbor in a large house called "Wildlife". The main dish of the proboscis order was the leaves of trees and shrubs. However, if the mammals were frightened, they could simply kill a nearby animal with their huge weight as a result of a sudden movement, without meaning to.
Mastodon males
Some scientists are convinced that mastodons did not exceed the growth of an ordinary elephant. The proboscis males could reach three meters at the withers. It is worth noting that they preferred to live separately from the herd, that is, females and their cubs. Their puberty was reached by the age of ten or fifteen. On average, mastodons lived for sixty years.
It is also worth noting that there were different types of mammals (the American one was described above), and almost all of them were similar. But in fact, mastodons appeared in Africa. It was 35 million years ago. A little later they moved to Europe, Asia, North and South America.
Interesting facts
Mastodon (the figurative meaning of the word implies an influential figure, something big, for example, a mastodon of business, a mastodon of literature), unlike an elephant, had tusks in the upper and lower jaws. A little later, the appearance of the proboscis squad changed, and the number of fangs decreased to one pair. Scientists have found that animals became extinct about 10 thousand years ago. There were about twenty species of them.
One of the versions of the extinction of mastodons was the infection of mammals with tuberculosis. But after their disappearance, they were not forgotten. Scientists are constantly studying bones, tusks of mastodons, making new discoveries and delving into the history of unique mammals. In 2007, the animal's DNA was examined from its teeth. The study proved that the remains of the mastodon were from 50 to 130 thousand years old.
Thus, the mastodon is a unique and not fully understood large mammal that walked the earth tens of thousands of years ago and was considered one of the most benevolent animals. It is proved that over time they began to eat grass, preferring it to the leaves of trees and shrubs, although their massive tusks were conducive to excellent hunting.
