Mastodon
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Mounted mastodon skeleton, Museum of the Earth. |
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Family: | †Mammutidae
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Genus: | †Mammut
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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.
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