Name/Title
Mastodon (tusk)Entry/Object ID
2011.57.18Description
Description: Family: Mammutidae
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Genus:Mammut
Common Name: Mastodon (tusk)
Age: Pleistocene
Location: Alaska
Description: Long large Mastodon tusk. Brown and tan with some linear cracking. Very well preserved.
Physical Characteristics:
Mastodons (Greek: µast?? "breast" and ?d???, "tooth") were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago.[1] The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group. Confusingly, several genera of proboscids from the gomphothere family have similar-sounding names (e.g., Stegomastodon) but are actually more closely related to elephants than to mastodons.
The genus gives its name to the family Mammutidae, assigned to the order Proboscidea. They superficially resemble members of the proboscidean family Elephantidae, including mammoths; however, mastodons were browsers while mammoths were grazers.
Elements: Well preserved tusk.
Family: Mammutidae
Genus: Mammut
Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidae
Phylum: ChordataCollection
Museum Collection of FossilsAcquisition
Accession
2011.57Source or Donor
Museum Collection of FossilsAcquisition Method
Long-term LoanDimensions
Width
3-1/2 inDepth
1-1/4 inLength
40 inLocation
Location
Container
LeftDrawer
BottomShelf
RightCabinet
Case # 49Wall
NorthRoom
Delmar Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
Permanent
