Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon 1000 years before the Jaredite record in the Book of Mormon begins. The main point of contention is how late these animals were present in the Americas before becoming extinct. Various Mormon authors have cited evidence that North American mound-builder cultures were familiar with the elephant. The oldest mound-builder societies date to around 2000 BC. The mound builder/elephant controversy did not originate with the Book of Mormon. In "The Mound Builders, Their Works and Relics", author Stephen Dennison Peet cites instances of exhumed mastodon remains and arguments given for why the remains were believed to be contemporary with mound builders.
Extinct in the wild Extinct in the wild An extinct in the wild (EW) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as known only by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due to massive habitat loss. Examples of species and subspecies that are extinct in the wild include: The Pinta Island tortoise ("Geochelone nigra abingdoni") had only one living individual, named Lonesome George, until his death in June 2012. The tortoise was believed to be entirely extinct in the mid-20th century, until Hungarian malacologist József Vágvölgyi spotted Lonesome