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. Mastodons were named for the shape of their teeth. On the other hand, mammoths are much more closely related to modern-day elephants than mastodons, and lived a similar lifestyle. They also used to live on large, open plains and had flat teeth with ridges for grazing.
Elephants also have similarly shaped teeth. Mammoths mostly ate flowering plants because they contain more protein and are easier to digest than grasses. Some species of mammoth also munched on other types of vegetarian fare, such as cactus leaves, trees, and shrubs.
Though mammoths and mastodons were both large, hairy, elephant-like creatures, they did have some differences other than their tooth shape. Mastodons were a bit shorter and stockier.
Since mammoths tended to live in colder climates, they had fatty humps where they stored extra nutrients necessary to survive the long, frigid winters and warmer fur coat. Mammoth tusks curved more while mastodon tusks were straighter and shorter. Mammoths had a distinctive bump at the top of their skulls while mastodons had flatter heads. There were multiple species of mammoth not just the woolly mammoth! Although mastodons evolved earlier than mammoths, both went extinct at a similar time, about 10, years ago.
There is some disagreement between experts about what exactly brought about the demise of these gentle giants — but there are two prevailing theories.
European anatomists started to figure out the distinction by making side-by-side comparisons. The teeth of mammoths and modern elephants both have relatively flat running-shoe corrugations on the biting surface.
But the teeth of the incognitum are studded with fierce-looking rows of large conical cusps. That difference not only indicated that Siberian mammoths and the incognitum were separate species, it also led some anatomists to regard the latter as a flesh-eating monster.
We now know that mammoths predominated in the open grasslands of the American West and in Siberia, where they needed flat teeth for eating grass. The incognitum , a smaller animal with less curvature to its tusks, lived mostly in the heavy forests east of the Mississippi River and browsed on tree branches.
Those teeth also eventually gave the incognitum a name. To the young French anatomist Georges Cuvier, the conical cusps looked like breasts.
The discovery of such monstrous creatures raised troubling questions. Cuvier made the case that both mammoths and mastodons had vanished from the face of the earth; their bones were just too different from any known pachyderm.
It was the first time the scientific world accepted the idea that any species had gone extinct—a challenge to the doctrine that species were a permanent, unchanging heritage from the Garden of Eden. The disappearance of such creatures also cast doubt on the idea that the earth was just 6, years old, as the Bible seemed to teach. In fact, mammoths and mastodons shook the foundations of conventional thought. At the same time, mammoths and mastodons gave Americans a symbol of national might at a time when they badly needed one.
He has no hair, no beard, no ardour for the female. Clearly offended, Thomas Jefferson who stood 6-foot-2 constructed elaborate tables comparing American species with their puny Old World counterparts—three-and-a-half pages of bears, bison, elk and flying squirrels going toe-to- toe. As if both sides were not warmed by the same genial sun; as if a soil of the same chemical composition was less capable of elaboration into animal nutriment.
He later followed up with a moose. Buffon promised to amend his errors in the next edition of his book, according to Jefferson, but died before he could do so. And they took every opportunity to make their point. Let both parties rise, and we will see on which side nature has degenerated. Bulls lived solitary lives or in loose groups with other bulls. The mammoth and the mastodon diverge in classification at the family level.
The mammoth belongs to the Elephantidae family and Mammuthus genus. The mastodon belongs to the Mammutidae family and Mammut genus. Share this comparison:. If you read this far, you should follow us:. Diffen LLC, n. Mammoth vs. Comparison chart Differences — Similarities —. Physical Characteristics Mammoths were a species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, while mastodons were a species of the extinct genus Mammut.
This video on the exhibits of the Field Museum throws more light on the differences between these two giants of the ice age: Size Mammoths were heavier, weighing between 5. Mastodons weighed between 5 to 8 tons and grew up to about 2.
Fur Mammoths had sparse to woolly fur and a short tail, unlike the long, brown, shaggy fur of the long and hairy-tailed mastodons.
Head The mammoth had a high, peaked head and large ears. Teeth Another significant distinguishing feature between the mammoth and the mastodon was their teeth.
0コメント