Mastodons went extinct 11,000 years ago and one was found in Orange County, New York. He was dead; I know, disappointing. “Atlas Bones” lived about 13,000 years ago. According to geologist Anthony Soricelli, based on the sediments, the remains were in a former lake that resulted from a retreating glacier.
They found a lot of vertebrae, and ribs. George Washington found a mastodon tooth in that area.
The remains were found in a back yard in Wallkill after the homeowner found mastodon teeth. The remains will be studied at the New York State Museum in Albany.
A nearly complete mastodon skeleton dating to 8,000 B.C. was found in the same county in 1972. Its name was Sugar. These animals weighed about six tons.
In total, mastodon remains have been found at 150 sites in New York, and a third of them have been in Orange County.
The differences between mastodons and mammoths include:
Size and Build: Mammoths were generally larger and heavier than mastodons, which were shorter and stockier.
Tusks: Mammoths had long, curved tusks, while mastodons had shorter, straighter tusks.
Teeth Structure: Mastodons had cone-shaped cusps on their molars, adapted for browsing on leaves and branches, whereas mammoths had ridged teeth suited for grazing on grasses.
Diet: Mastodons were wood browsers, primarily eating twigs and leaves, while mammoths grazed on grasses.
Habitat: They had different ecological preferences, with mastodons typically found in forested areas and mammoths in open grasslands.
