Mastodon Temporal range: early Pliocene – late Pleistocene, 5.3–0.011 mya
Mounted mastodon skeleton, Museum of the Earth.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Family:	†Mammutidae Hay, 1922
Genus:	†Mammut Blumenbach, 1799

American mastodon molars at the State Museum of Pennsylvania

Mastodons or Mastodonts are elephants of the extinct genus Mammut and the family Mammutidae. Mastodons became extinct about 11,000 years ago.

Mastodons, with mammoths, modern elephants and various older families, are members of the order Proboscidea. As adults they stood between 2.5 and 3 meters (8-10 feet) at the shoulder and weighed between 3500 and 5400 kilograms (4-6 tons).

Mastodons were browsers on leaves and branches, as shown by their molar teeth.