What it is
The American mastodon (Mammut americanum) was an elephant relative with a long, low body, short legs and long curved tusks, that browsed on trees and shrubs. The International Union for Conservation of Nature gives it no category, because its Red List covers extinctions since the year 1500.
Range
Forests and wetlands across North America, from Alaska to Mexico.
What happened
People reached North America near the end of the last ice age. Mastodon bones with cut marks and stone tools show that the first Americans, including people of the Clovis culture, hunted them, while the climate was also changing fast.
When / status
Extinct about 13,800 to 11,400 years ago.
Human role
Hunting by the first Americans, alongside the changing climate at the end of the ice age, is linked to its extinction.