A mastodon is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus Mammut that inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. Mastodons lived in herds and were predominantly forest-dwelling animals.

What does the name mastodon mean?

Cuvier assigned the name mastodon (or mastodont) - meaning "breast tooth" (Ancient Greek: μαστός "breast" and ὀδούς, "tooth"), - for the nipple-like projections on the crowns of the molars.

What is difference between mastodon and mammoth?

Mastodon were shorter and stockier than mammoths with shorter, straighter tusks. Mastodons were wood browsers and their molars have pointed cones specially adapted for eating woody browse. Mammoths were grazers, their molars have flat surfaces for eating grass.