Mastodon have been no reports of currently recognized "Mammut" species outside of North America according to Paleobiology database (which does not recognize "M. borsoni"). However, the status of "Mammut" or "Zygolophodon borsoni" in the literature appears equivocal. "Mammut" is a genus of the extinct family Mammutidae, related to the proboscidean family Elephantidae (mammoths and elephants), from which it originally diverged approximately 27 million years ago. The following cladogram shows the placement of the American mastodon among other proboscideans, based on hyoid characteristics: Over the years, several fossils from localities in North America, Africa and Asia have been attributed to "Mammut", but
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History naturally found in Panama. This left a puzzling question: how did the fungus get to Panama? Evidence indicates that humans were instrumental in how the fungus traveled. Kolbert uses the frog-fungus relationship as a symbol of how humans are introducing invasive species to various environments, where native species would normally have the proper distribution of alleles for their environment. Kolbert explains how fossils of the American mastodon ("Mammut americanum") shaped Georges Cuvier's views on catastrophism. According to Cuvier, there was no reason the mastodon should have died out. The mastodon was large enough to avoid predation, had large enough teeth