Mastodon group consisted of adult females and young, living in bonded groups called mixed herds. The males abandoned the mixed herds once reaching sexual maturity and lived either alone or in male bond groupings. As in modern elephants, there probably was no seasonal synchrony of mating activity, with both males and females seeking out each other for mating when sexually active. Mastodons have been characterized as predominantly browsing animals. Most accounts of gut contents have identified coniferous twigs as the dominant element in their diet. Other accounts (Burning tree mastodon) have reported no coniferous content and suggest selective feeding on low,
Mastodon incognitum "mastodon". The name "mastodon" (or "mastodont") means "breast tooth" (Ancient Greek: μαστός "breast" and ὀδούς, "tooth"), and was assigned by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1817, for the nipple-like projections on the crowns of its molars. "Mastodon" as a genus name is obsolete; the valid name is "Mammut", a name that preceded Cuvier's description, making "Mastodon" a junior synonym. The change was met with resistance, and authors sometimes applied ""Mastodon"" as an informal name; consequently it became the common term for members of the genus. Species include: Since a tentative 1977 report of "M. matthewi" in China, there