Mastodon Mastodon Mastodons (Greek: μαστός "breast" and ὀδούς, "tooth") are any species of extinct proboscideans in the genus Mammut (family Mammutidae), distantly related to elephants, that inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. Mastodons lived in herds and were predominantly forest dwelling animals that fed on a mixed diet obtained by browsing and grazing with a seasonal preference for browsing, similar to living elephants. "M. americanum", the American mastodon, is the youngest and best-known species of the genus. They disappeared from
Cerutti Mastodon site Cerutti Mastodon site The Cerutti Mastodon site is a paleontological and possible archeological site located in San Diego County, California. In 2017, researchers announced that broken mastodon bones at the site had been dated to around 130,700 years ago. Since the bones were found with cobblestones displaying use-wear and impact marks among the otherwise fine-grain sands, intentional breakage of the bones by hominins using the stones has been suggested by the researchers. If this is so, then some form of "Homo" may have been present in the Americas at an extremely early age. The Cerutti Mastodon site (SDNHM locality 3767)