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Webster 1913 Edition


Mastodon

Mas′to-don

,
Noun.
[Gr.
μαστόσ
the breast +
ὀδούς
,
ὀδόντος
, a tooth. So called from the conical projections upon its molar teeth.]
(Paleon.)
An extinct genus of mammals closely allied to the elephant, but having less complex molar teeth, and often a pair of lower, as well as upper, tusks, which are incisor teeth. The species were mostly larger than elephants, and their remains occur in nearly all parts of the world in deposits ranging from Miocene to late Quaternary time.

Webster 1828 Edition


Mastodon

MAS'TODON

,
Noun.
[Gr. mamilla, and tooth.] A genus of mammiferous animals resembling the elephant, now extinct, and known only by their fossil remains. It includes the N. American mammoth.