What is the difference between a mastodon and an elephant

Both species stood between 7 and 14 feet 2 meters to 4 meters tall, and were covered in long, shaggy hair that protected them from the harsh conditions of their respective environments. But mammoths also possessed fatty humps on their backs that provided them with the additional nutrients necessary in their more northerly, ice-covered habitats. The most important difference between these two species, according to Smithsonian. Both animals were herbivores, but mastodons had cone-shaped cusps on their molars designed to crush leaves, twigs and branches.

Mammoths , however, had ridged molars that allowed them to cut through vegetation and graze like modern-day elephants. Both species had long, curved trunks that the animals may have used to scrape snow and ice off vegetation. The forehead of the Asian elephant is pronounced and that of mammoths even more so, while the brow of the African elephant has a gentler slope.

The ears of African elephants are much larger than those of Asian elephants and of mammoths. The exceptionally small ears of woolly mammoths better protected them from cold temperatures.

That tundra species certainly was hairier than elephants are -- it had both an undercoat and an outer one -- but mammoth varieties from more temperate latitudes likely had mostly bare hides. Trunk tips differ among the elephantids, too. African elephants and mammoths have two fingerlike extensions at the tip -- though of different shapes -- while the Asian elephant has just one. He holds a B. Adaptations of a Saber-Toothed Tiger.

Ancestors of the Hedgehog. Do Elk Have Ivory Teeth? What Is a Homologous Trait? What Is the Natural Habitat of Camels? Large Fossilized Sea Shell Identification. How to Identify a Raven Feather. Mastodons — literally, "nipple tooth" — had cone-shaped cusps on their molars, similar to those of a pig.

This allowed them to crush twigs, leaves and branches. Mastodons only had one set of teeth, and there's no evidence that they wore down like mammoth teeth. The mammoth lived from the Pliocene epoch, about two million years ago, into the Holocene age. Most mammoths became extinct 10, years ago. Some smaller woolly mammoths, one of the species of mammoths, lived on an isolated island until BC.

The mastodon pre-dated the mammoth, although there was overlap. Mastodons lived from the late Miocine era, about 5. Mastodons became extinct 10, years ago. The precise reason why both species became extinct is unknown. Scientists have attributed it to climate change and over-hunting. Scientists found that DNA mutations accumulated in mammoth populations, degrading their genomes and eventually leading to their extinction.

A BBC News story covering the research reported that. Their habitat was the mammoth steppe, a periglacial landscape with rich herb and grass vegetation. They grazed on leaves, shrubs, grasses and herbs.

Mastodons were native to Africa, Europe and Asia, and later migrated to the Americas. Forest dwellers feeding on sylvan vegetation, mastodons were herbivores, both grazers and browsers. In addition to shrubs and grasses, they also grazed trees, mosses and twigs. Mammoths lived 60 to 80 years, depending on their teeth. Mastodons lived for approximately 60 years. Both the mammoth and the mastodon had a social structure similar to each other and to that of modern-day elephants.