Fossils: A Story of the Rocks and Their Record of Prehistoric LifeMarkman, Harvey C.
Science
Fossils: A Story of the Rocks and Their Record of Prehistoric Life
Markman, Harvey C.
Fossils; Paleontology
Other specimens in the Museum collection are the long-jawed mastodonts,
so named because of the elongated jaws and protruding chin which is
often mistaken for a tusk. Early members of this group had more cheek
teeth than later types of mastodons, and longer jaws were required for
their accommodation. Some of them had flattened lower tusks which
evidently were used for digging purposes. These are popularly known as
“shovel tuskers.” The more modern American mastodon had shorter jaws
and, like the mammoths and elephants, only one pair of tusks. Both the
long-jawed and short-jawed types are represented by complete skeletons,
and also by tusks, jaws, and teeth of many individuals. The American
mastodons and mastodonts were of about the same size as the smaller
mammoths.
The difference between mastodons and mammoths is most readily recognized
in the structure of the grinding teeth, the molars and pre-molars. In
the mastodon these teeth are of the short-crowned type, while in the
mammoths, as in the modern elephants, they are long-crowned. The
difference between these two types of molars has been described with
reference to horses, and the change from the older to the modern form
may be regarded as coming about in the same general way, through a
series of gradual modifications. In both horse and mammoth the final
development shows internal enamel extending from the grinding surface
nearly to the roots. Otherwise, however, there is almost no resemblance,
for the mammoth tooth is made up of flattened enamel plates, the number
of which is variable for different species. In the jaws of a very young
individual these plates may be seen as separate parts. As the tooth
continues to grow, the plates become cemented together, and when the
ends of the plate are worn down it may be observed that each consists of
a layer of enamel surrounding a flat central core of dentine. The type
of construction is rather more obvious in the mammoth tooth than in that
of a horse, partly because of the larger size, and partly because of the
relative simplicity of construction.
The earlier history of the Proboscidea is not recorded in the rocks of
North America, for the group was of African origin and its migrations
did not extend as far as the New World until middle Cenozoic times. The
mastodons and mammoths were the largest of land animals since the Age of
Reptiles, but their Old World ancestors were not conspicuous because of
their bulk. Many of these ancient forms, even in the earliest stages,
reveal some of the prominent characters that dominate the entire group.
None of them, however, should be regarded as a miniature mammoth or
mastodon, for these highly specialized types were perfected only at a
comparatively recent date, and by a process that works very slowly.
Among the earlier forms there were also some oddities which failed to
survive or to produce a successful branch of the stock such as the
elephants.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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