mastodon

/'mæstədɔn/

Thân thiện

A mastodon is depicted in a natural history museum diorama.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • An extinct elephant-like mammal: A very large, extinct mammal that resembled modern elephants but had distinct physical differences, particularly in tooth structure. Mastodons lived from the Miocene epoch through the Pleistocene epoch.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • Fossils of the American mastodon have been found across North America.
  • The mastodon was a herbivore that browsed on trees and shrubs.

Advanced Usage

• In scientific contexts: The term is used to refer specifically to members of the extinct genus (family Mammutidae), distinguishing them from mammoths and modern elephants.
  • The study compared the DNA of the mastodon to that of the woolly mammoth.

Variants and Related Words

• Mastodonic (adj): Of or relating to mastodons; resembling a mastodon, especially in great size.
  • The old, mastodonic machinery filled the entire warehouse.

Synonyms

• None precise: There are no exact synonyms for this specific extinct genus. Related terms include:
  • Proboscidean: A member of the order Proboscidea, which includes elephants and their extinct relatives like mastodons and mammoths.

Different Meanings

• This word has only one primary meaning referring to the extinct mammal. It is not commonly used in other contexts.

Idioms

• There are no common idioms using the word "mastodon."

Phrasal Verbs

• There are no phrasal verbs using the word "mastodon."

Học thuật

Noun

1. extinct elephant-like mammal that flourished worldwide from Miocene through Pleistocene times; differ from mammoths in the form of the molar teeth

Từ đồng nghĩa

• mastodont