MAMMOTHS AM) MASTOPOXS 13 



platrs of (Miaiiu'l altcriuitiiiii with (Iciitliic and ((Miiciit, llic ^^rindiii;^' Mirl'acc 

 shows two, thriH'or four cross crests with intcrNcnin^ \alh\vs and no ccnicnl. 

 These teeth are a(hi|)te(l for cho|)|)in^ tlie food, hke those of the tapir. The 

 ele|)hants on tlie other liand j^rind tlie food as does the liorse. 'IMie teeth 

 of the mastodon are hnt little different from those of his I'ertiarv ancestors 

 — Ciivier included them })()th under the same genus — l)ut what difierence 

 there is is a perfecting of the chopping tapir-like type. As in the elephant 

 they are gradually pushed forward in the jaw during wear, and break off at 

 the front of the grinding row when worn down to the base. But there are 

 usually two or three on each side of the jaw in use at one time instead of one 

 or parts of two as in the elephants. A young adult will liave three teeth 

 on each side of each jaw — twelve grinders in all; in an old animal these are 

 reduced to two, rarely to one in extreme age. 



Habits and Environment. The wide differences in grinding teeth are 

 doubtless correlated with differences in the food and range. The masto- 

 dons seem to have been especially abundant in the heavily forested regions 



After Lucas 



Fig. 5. Grinding teeth of ma.stodon and mammoth. 



of the north. They are rare in the open tundra regions of Ala.ska and 

 Siberia and in the plains and deserts of the western states and are most 

 abundant in the heavily wooded sections of the eastern states, as far 

 west as Michigan and Iowa and as far south as the Carolinas. 



Their remains have been chiefly found in the course of drainage canals 

 and ditches in the swamps and boggy lands in this part of the country, 

 where no doubt they were mired and so preserved from decay. The boggy 

 valleys southwest from Xewburgh, X. Y., and swampy districts in central 

 Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa have yielded many skeletons, 

 .skulls and other parts. Nearly all these remains are of post-glacial age, 

 showing that the animal was abundant in this country after the glaciers 

 had retreated. It has not been found in any of the formations older than 

 the Pleistocene. The contents of the stomach have been preserved in two 

 or three skeletons and show that they fed on the twigs of hemlock, spruce 

 and other evergreen trees, but probably they were not restricted to this 

 diet. Remains of the hair of dark golden brown color, long, dense and 

 shaggy, are recorded as preserved w ith a skeleton found in Ulster Co., N. \ . 



