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
Manis Mastodon Site origin of the point. Gustafson also analyzed the position of the fossil, which was lying on its left side, while the heavily fragmented skull was rotated 180 degrees from its natural position. Noting that this could not have occurred due to natural causes Gustafson deduced that the carcass must have been tampered with by humans. Archaeologists were surprised to find a mastodon in the area at all because pollen samples that were taken showed no evidence of trees, which mastodons fed on. In an excavated layer above the mastodon, as well as that of a 6,700-year-old deposit of ash from