[ noun ] extinct elephant-like mammal that flourished worldwide from Miocene through Pleistocene times; differ from mammoths in the form of the molar teeth <noun.animal>
Mastodon \Mas"to*don\, n. [Gr. masto`s the breast + 'odoy`s, 'odo`ntos, a tooth. So called from the conical projections upon its molar teeth.] (Paleon.) An extinct genus of mammals closely allied to the elephant, but having less complex molar teeth, and often a pair of lower, as well as upper, tusks, which are incisor teeth. The species were mostly larger than elephants, and their remains occur in nearly all parts of the world in deposits ranging from Miocene to late Quaternary time.
The animals roamed the northern part of the continent until about 10,000 years ago and probably competed with the present-day moose and the now-extinct mastodon, said Jeffrey Saunders, associate geologist at the museum.
Plans to add a giant mastodon and a sabre-tooth tiger are on the drawing board.
A 7-foot-tall color photo of Beuys, wearing his customary gray hat, standing in front of a mastodon's skeleton in a Darmstadt museum and labeled "Kunst = Kapital" (art equals money) was bought for $55,000 by the Fuji TV Gallery in Tokyo.