124 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



in eastern Oregon. A remarkable peculiarity of 

 this specimen is that the symphysis is greatly elon- 

 gated and curves downward thirteen inches below 

 the level of the alveolus, which bears the great molar 

 teeth. This individual was an old animal, as he had 

 shed his first dentition and all the premolars and 

 molars of the second except the very last, those 

 which we call wisdom teeth. Even these are well 

 worn; so the days of the mastodon's life must have 

 been numbered even if he had escaped his enemy, 

 the great saber-toothed tiger, which preyed on him 

 and the other herbivorous animals of the day. 



The length of these remarkable jaws is four feet 

 and one inch. The height at the condyle, where 

 they connect with the skull, is thirteen and a half 

 inches; length of molar, nine and a quarter inches; 

 height of crown, two and one-half inches; distance 

 between the two molars, four inches. The sockets 

 for the great inferior tusks are two feet long and 

 six inches in diameter, and the huge recurved tusks 

 themselves must have been over four feet long. 

 Only a sight of these peculiar jaws, with tusks above 

 and below, can give the reader an idea of the for- 

 midable appearance of this early mastodon. By the 

 large size and downward curvature of the lower 

 tusks, this mastodon suggests the great Dinotherium 

 of the Lower Pliocene of Europe. I regret for 

 America's sake, but I am glad for the sake of the 



