Mastodon largest male specimens, the 35-year-old AMNH 9950 was tall and weighed , while another was tall and weighed . Like modern elephants, the females were smaller than the males. They had a low and long skull with long curved tusks, with those of the males being more massive and more strongly curved. Mastodons had cusp-shaped teeth, very different from mammoth and elephant teeth (which have a series of enamel plates), well-suited for chewing leaves and branches of trees and shrubs. Based on the characteristics of mastodon bone sites, it can be inferred that, as in modern proboscideans, the mastodon social
Early modern Europe themselves as belonging to a national polity—a notable break from medieval modes of self-identification, which had been largely based upon religion (belonging to a universal Christendom), language, or feudal allegiance (belonging to the manor or extended household of a particular magnate or lord). The beginning of the early modern period is not clear-cut, but is generally accepted to be in the late 15th century or early 16th century. Significant dates in this transitional phase from medieval to early modern Europe can be noted: The end date of the early modern period is variously associated with the Industrial Revolution, which began