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MASTODON IVORY

The various colors of ivory come from different parts of the actual tusk…. whiter ivory from the center, yellowed ivory from the separations of the tusk that have been exposed to the elements, and darker ivory from the outer bark. Soaking the ivory in natural herbs, to enhance a particular area, creates some darker coloring.

MASTODON

Thousands of years ago as the great glaciers began to recede, giant animals such as the woolly mammoth and the mastodon, roamed the area now known as Maine. Then they were suddenly extinct. Theories are many, as to why, but there are few clues. One clue that does exist, however, is the bones and tusks of these animals that have found during excavation of the land. Glacial geologists describe the mastodon and mammoth as offshoots of the elephant line. This order, called Proboscidea, has had hundreds of species, of which only two are alive today - the African elephant and the Asian elephant. The mammals, Proboscidea, are characterized by having a trunk. While the mammoth and mastodon are closely related to modern elephants, they are NOT their ancestors. The mammoth, mastodon, and elephant, once roamed the earth at the same time and could therefore be considered close cousins.

The following table explains the differences within the Proboscidea species:

	Woolly Mammoth	American Mastodon	African Elephant	Asian Elephant
Height	2.75 - 3.4m(9 - 11 ft.)	2.3 - 3m(8-10 ft.)	3 - 3.4m(10-11 ft.)	2.4 - 3m(8-10 ft.)
Weight	4 - 6 tons	4 - 5 tons	4 - 6 tons	3 - 5 tons
Back Shape	Sloped	Straight	Saddle-shaped	Humped
Hair Type	Dense	Probably dense	Very sparse	Sparse
Tooth structure	Ridged molars(surface like a washboard)	Molars with "pointed projections (breast shape)	Ridged molars	Ridged molars
Ear size	Very small	Probably small	Large	Medium
Tail length	Short	Medium	Long	Long
Tusk shape	Curved & twisted	Slightly curved	Gently curved	Gently curved
Head shape	High domed	Low domed	Low domed	Double domed

The Ancestry of mammoth and mastodon can be traced back to about 5.5 million years ago. The last dinosaurs became extinct about 60 millions years BEFORE the first mammoths & mastodon appeared. Following the extinction of the dinosaurs, the "Age of Mammals" began, and they began to diversify very quickly. Mastodon & Mammoth are related to modern day elephants but they are not their ancestors. All originated in Africa from a common ancestor and existed at the same time. Mammoths & Mastodon migrated north and with the decreasing temperatures of the Ice Age gradually adapted by evolving into the familiar "woolly mammoths." Interestingly, there are isolated environments, such as the Wrangel Island, in the Arctic Sea, where dwarf mammoth evolved. Some of these were the very last mammoths on earth, becoming extinct only about 3500 years ago. The story of the evolution of Proboscidea has been worked out by studying fossils and the remaining living relatives such as the elephant. Studying remains is unique in that several well-preserved specimens have been found frozen in permafrost. They have also been found in tarpits, caves, gravel pits, North Sea, etc. Hair, hide, flesh, blood, and internal organs have been found intact. By carefully piecing together the evidence in mammoth & mastodon finds, along with the knowledge of present day Proboscidians, scientists have been able to reconstruct what these animals must have looked like.