mastodon

views updated May 21 2018

mastodon Any of several species of extinct elephantine mammals, all of which existed mainly in the Pleistocene epoch. Mastodons had a long coat of red hair; the grinding teeth were notably smaller and less complex than those of modern elephants, and the males had small tusks on the lower as well as the upper jaw. Genus Mastodon.

World Encyclopedia

mastodon

views updated Jun 08 2018

mas·to·don / ˈmastəˌdän/ • n. a large, extinct, elephantlike mammal (Mammutidae and other families, many species) of the Miocene to Pleistocene epochs, having teeth of a relatively primitive form and number.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

mastodon

views updated May 08 2018

mastodon See GOMPHOTHERIIDAE; and MAMMUTIDAE.

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY

mastodon

views updated May 14 2018

mastodon extinct elephantine mammal having nipple-shaped tubercles on the molars. XIX. f. Gr. mastós breast + odðn, odont- TOOTH.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

mastodon

views updated May 18 2018

mastodon (Mammut, Mastodon) See MAMMUTIDAE.

A Dictionary of Zoology MICHAEL ALLABY

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