Unlike Yukon's abundant record of mammoths, mastodon fossils are rarely found in Yukon. Think cattle (mammoth) versus moose (mastodon). In essence, a mammoth was a grazer, while a mastodon was a browser. These teeth were great for snapping and chewing branches of shrubs and small trees. American mastodon molars are distinguished by low, rounded cusps covered in hard enamel that formed a pair of rows. Mammoth molars have a nearly flat surface, used for grinding and sheering grass. Probably the most significant difference is the shape and function of their molars. Mastodon tusks are shorter and straighter than those of their mammoth cousins. Both superficially look like furry elephants, but mastodons were slightly shorter and had a stockier build. Even though it never made the return journey back into Asia, the American mastodon had an incredibly wide geographic range during the Ice Age, stretching from Arctic Alaska to the tropics of Honduras!Ī few key features can help distinguish a mastodon from a mammoth. As its name suggests, the American mastodon evolved in North America, some 3.5 million years ago. They eventually crossed Beringia, eastward from Asia, around 15 million years ago. The ancestors of the American mastodon split away from the mammoths sometime around 25 million years ago. However, while both are distantly related to elephants, these two animals are distinctly different beasts. Mammoth or mastodon? Many people use these two names interchangeably to describe big, furry ice age elephants.
Mastodon skull on display as part of the Ice Age Mammals traveling exhibition in 2014.
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