Category Archives: Mastodon

Discovering the mammoth: A tale of giants, unicorns, ivory, and the birth of a new science

Posted on August 2, 2017 by twilightbeasts

Mammoth. With one word, we can all conjure up a mental picture of a woolly elephant, tusks curving out and in, possibly in a herd, in a habitat cold and snowy with biting wind and unforgiving snow. Isn’t it weird? … Continue reading →

Posted in Cave art, Columbian Mammoth, Deinotherium, Extinction, Mastodon, Palaeoloxodon, Scientific Art, Stegodon, Woolly Mammoth | Tagged Bering, Blumenbach, book, Georges Cuvier, Leibniz, Mammoth, mummies, Natural History Museum, Pleistocene, Woolly Mammoth | 1 Comment

A very brief introduction to mammoths

Posted on July 18, 2017 by twilightbeasts

I was in Los Angeles when I first saw him. I stood in his shadow as he towered above me. I didn’t feel fear. Or panic. I felt awe despite being dwarfed. Light bounces off each bone, highlighting the curves, … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbian Mammoth, Deinotherium, Gompothere, Mastodon, Palaeoloxodon, Steppe Mammoth, Woolly Mammoth | Tagged African Bush Elephant, African Forest Elephant, Asian Elephant, Cave Lion, Columbian Mammoth, Cretan Dwarf Mammoth, Dolphin, Dorothea, Dorothea Bate, Elephas maximus indicus, Elephas maximus maximus, Eliphantidae, Fosters Rule, Giant Deer, Gompothere, Homo neander, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens, Homotherium, Ichthyosaur, La Brea Tar, La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, Loxodonta africana, Loxodonta cyclotis, Mammoth, Mammoth Steppe, Mammuthus, Mammuthus africanavus, Mammuthus creticus, Mammuthus exilis, Mammuthus lamarmorai, Mammuthus meridionalis, Mammuthus primigenius, Mammuthus rumanus, Mammuthus subplanifrons, Mastodon, Moeritherium, Neanderthal, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Primelephas, Proboscidea, Pygmy Mammoth, reindeer, Sabre tooth cat, Sardinian Dwarf Mammoth, Southern Mammoth, Steppe Mammoth, Straight Tusked elephants, The African Mammoth, Tori Herridge, TrowelBlazers, Woolly Mammoth, Woolly rhinoceros, Zygolophodon | 21 Comments

An elephant shakes a tree

Posted on June 9, 2017 by twilightbeasts

Mammoths get all the attention. Like an annoying younger sibling, they hog a limelight that should be more equally shared. Occasionally, the mastodon gets a whisp of publicity, which is notable mostly for its rarity. The vast family of proboscideans … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbian Mammoth, Deinotherium, Extinction, Hippopotamus, Mastodon, Palaeoloxodon, Stegodon, Steppe Mammoth, Woolly Mammoth | Tagged African Bush Elephant, African Elephant, African Forest Elephant, ancient DNA, Asian Elephant, Hippopotamus, Mastodon, Merck’s rhinoceros, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Stegodon, Stegomastodon, Woolly Mammoth | 6 Comments

Stuck in time

Posted on December 2, 2016 by twilightbeasts

It is mid-November, and beads of sweat form on my forehead. Coalescence is inevitable. And it happens quickly; small beads merged into one humongous droplet, and it begins to meander its way down my nose, and there it dangles, stubbornly … Continue reading →

Posted in American Lion, Camelops, Horse, Mastodon, Sabre tooth Cat | Tagged Aisling Farrell, American lion, camel, Camelops, Columbian Mammoth, Crenshaw Boulevard, Dire Wolf, George C Page, Homotherium serum, La Brea, La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, Major Henry Hancock, Mastodon, Monster Bird, Page Museum, Panthera leo atrox, Rancho la Brea, Short-faced Bear, Smilodon, Smilodon fatalis, Tar Pits, Teratornis merriami, William Denton, Wilshire Boulevard | 6 Comments

Giant Sloths & Sabertooth Cats

Posted on November 25, 2016 by twilightbeasts

Giant Sloths and Sabertooth Cats: Extinct Mammals and the Archaeology of the Ice Age Great Basin By Donald K Grayson If there is one thing I enjoy doing in my downtime, it’s reading about Pleistocene megafauna. As well as … Continue reading →

Posted in American Lion, Antilocapra americana peninsularis, Bison, Brown Bear, Camelops, Cave Lion, Cheetah, Clovis hunters, Columbian Mammoth, Extinction, Giant Beaver, Giant Ground Sloth, Glyptodon, Gompothere, Ground Sloth, Horse, Mastodon, Peccary, Pronghorn, Sabre tooth Cat, Short Faced Bear, Teratorns, Woolly Mammoth | Tagged book, Grayson, megafauna, Overkill, Pleistocene | 2 Comments

Meet Long Tusk

Posted on April 29, 2016 by twilightbeasts

Some of you may have been lucky enough to see these incredible animals in the wild. Others may have felt a strong tug at your heart seeing one in a zoo. Most, if not all, of us have seen these … Continue reading →

Posted in Deinotherium, Mastodon, Woolly Mammoth, Zygolophodon | Tagged African Bush Elephant, African Elephant, African Forest Elephant, Asian Elephant, Columbian Mammoth, Deinotherium, Elephant, Elephantidae, Elephas maximus indicus, Elephas maximus maximus, Elephas maximus sumatranus, Gomphotheridiiae, Gompothere, Jan Freedman, Loxodonta africana, Loxodonta cyclotis, Mammutidae, Pliocene, Proboscidea, Stegodon, Steppe Mammoth, Zygolophodon | 4 Comments

The Nipple Tooth

Posted on July 14, 2014 by twilightbeasts

In the everyday language of superlatives “mammoth” and “mastodon” are used almost interchangeably. Yet, despite superficial similarities due to homology through shared ancestry, the animals could not be more different. Mastodons are known from both the old world and … Continue reading →

Posted in Mastodon | Tagged Charles Kn, Clovis culture, Mammoth, Mammut americanum, Mastodon, Megalonyx jeffersonii, Schreger lines, Thomas Jefferson | 21 Comments

	The most (and least)… on A very brief introduction to…
	The most (and least)… on The Nipple Tooth
	The most (and least)… on The burrowers
	The most (and least)… on The Stuff Of Night-Mares
	The most (and least)… on The beasts within

	The most (and least)… on A very brief introduction to…
	The most (and least)… on The Nipple Tooth
	The most (and least)… on The burrowers
	The most (and least)… on The Stuff Of Night-Mares
	The most (and least)… on The beasts within