THE MASTODON 203 



Neither do we at present know just how many 

 species of mastodons there may have been in 

 the Western Hemisphere, for most of them are 

 known from scattered teeth, single jaws, and 

 odd bones, so that we cannot tell just what dif- 

 ferences may be due to sex or individual varia- 

 tion. It is certain, however, that several dis- 

 tinct kinds, or species, have inhabited various 

 parts of North America, while remains of others 

 occur in South America. The mastodon, how- 

 ever, the one most recent in point of time, and 

 the best known because its remains are scat- 

 tered far and wide over pretty much the length 

 and breadth of the United States, and are 

 found also in southern and western Canada, 

 is the well-named Mastodon americanus* and 

 unless otherwise specified this alone will be 

 meant when the name mastodon is used. In 

 some localities the mastodon seems to have 

 abounded, but between the Hudson and Con- 

 necticut Rivers indications of its former pres- 



thinks may be the long sought ancestor of the elephant family, 

 which includes the mammoth and mastodon. 



* This has also been called giganteus and ohioticus, but the 

 name americanus claims priority, and should therefore be used. 



