Mastodon, << MAS tuh don, >> was an animal much like the elephant. It is now extinct. Mastodons first lived in North Africa about 40 million years ago. They spread to Asia, Europe, and the rest of Africa. Mastodons reached America about 14 million years ago and lived there until about 10,000 years ago.
Mastodons were related to another group of prehistoric elephantlike animals called four-tuskers. Mastodons and four-tuskers were stockier than, and not as tall as, elephants or mammoths. Early species had tusks in both jaws. Some of the later species lost the lower tusks. Others developed great, flat lower tusks. These species are called shovel-tuskers. The mastodon’s teeth were up to 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) wide and 6 inches (15 centimeters) long. Each tooth had four to six cross-rows of heavy enamel cones, which the mastodon used to grind plants it ate.
