Mammutidae is an extinct

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

proboscidea The Proboscidea (; , ) are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. From ...

ns that appeared during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

epoch and survived until the start of the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

. The family was first described in 1922, classifying fossil specimens of the type genus ''Mammut'' (

mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

s), and has since been placed in various arrangements of the order. The name "mastodon" derives from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, "nipple" and "tooth", as with the genus, referring to a characteristic that distinguishes them from allied families. The genus ''

Zygolophodon ''Zygolophodon'' is an extinct genus of African, Asian, and European mammutid that lived from the Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named ...

'' has also been assigned to this family. Mammutids ranged very widely, with fossils found in North America, Africa, and throughout Eurasia.

Discoveries

Since the 18th century several fossils have been found in different regions of Venezuela; the first one of these fossils was reviewed by

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

. In August 2008, miners in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

unearthed the skeleton of a 2.5-million-year-old mastodon, believed to be one of the best preserved in Europe.2.5 million-year-old mastodon unearthed in Romania
''USA Today'', 2008-08-08, Retrieved on 11 August 2008 Ninety percent of the skeleton's bones were intact, with damage to the skull and tusks. In 2009, a family in

Portland, Michigan Portland is a city in Ionia County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,883 at the 2010 census. The city is situated in the south central portion of Portland Township and is known as the "City of Two Rivers" since it is the conflu ...

, unearthed mastodon bones while excavating a new pond on their property. It is one of around 250 mastodons found in Michigan over the past century. The first excavation to discover mastodon fossils in Elmacık village in

Burdur Burdur is a city in southwestern Turkey. The seat of Burdur Province, it is located on the shore of Lake Burdur. Its estimated 2010 population is 78,389. History Ancient history Whilst there is evidence of habitation in the province dating b ...

province,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, took place in 2006. As of July 2009, six mastodon fossils have been discovered in the village. In August 2011, a skeleton of a mastodon was found near

Tomislavgrad Tomislavgrad (), also known by its former name Duvno (), is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It mainly covers an area of the historical and geographica ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. In November 2011, a mastodon skeleton was unearthed in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

, during construction of a retention pond. The find is being studied by the Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences.

Evolution

It has been traditionally assumed that mammutids are the most basal group within

Elephantimorpha Elephantimorpha is a group that contains the elephants as well as their extinct relatives, the gomphotheres and stegodontids. The following cladogram shows the relationships among elephantimorphs, based on hyoid The hyoid bone (lingual bone or to ...

, with

gomphothere Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during ...

s being more closely related to elephants. However recent molecular and morphological evidence suggests that trilophodont gomphotheres and mammutids are more closely related to each other than they are to elephants.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13424536 Mastodons Miocene first appearances Prehistoric mammal families nl:Mastodont