Editing Mastodon (section)

==== Cuvier's taxonomy ====
[[File:Mammut Mastodonte Skeleton Cuvier 1806.png|thumb|Sketch of the skeleton of ''Mammut'', labeled as "Mastodonte"]]
In 1806, Cuvier wrote multiple extended research articles on fossil proboscideans of Eurasia and the Americas. He stated that the bones that Buffon previously described from North America were not of elephants but another animal that he referred to as the "''mastodonte''," or the "''animal of Ohio''."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cuvier|first=Georges|year=1806|title=Sur les éléphans vivans et fossiles|journal=Annales du Muséum d'histoire naturelle|volume=8|pages=1–68|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/93165#page/4/mode/1up}}</ref> He reinforced the idea that the extinct "mastodon" was an animal close in relationship to elephants that differed by jaws with large tubercles. He suggested that "mammoth" and "carnivorous elephant" be discontinued as names for the species and that it receive a new genus name instead. Cuvier said that for "''mastodonte''," he derived the name's etymology (compound {{lang|grc|μαστός}} ({{transliteration|grc|mastós}}, "breast") + {{lang|grc|ὀδούς}} ({{transliteration|grc|odoús}}, "tooth")) from [[Ancient Greek]] to mean "nipple tooth," since he thought that it expressed the characteristic form of the teeth.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cuvier|first=Georges|year=1806|title=Sur le grand mastodonte|journal=Annales du Muséum d'histoire naturelle|volume=2|pages=270–312|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/51185#page/312/mode/1up}}</ref>

In 1817, the French naturalist officially established the genus name ''Mastodon'', reaffirming that it is extinct and has left no living descendants. He established that it had an overall body form similar to elephants but had molars more similar to hippopotamuses and pigs that did not serve to grind meat. The first species he erected within ''Mastodon'' was ''Mastodon giganteum'', giving it the informal name "great mastodon" and writing that that it is designated to the Ohio proboscidean with abundant fossil evidence, equal size but greater proportions to modern elephants, and diamond-shaped points of the molars. The naturalist also created the second species name ''Mastodon angustidens'' and gave it the informal name "narrow-toothed mastodon," diagnosing it as having narrower molars, smaller sizes compared to ''M. giganteum'', and range distributions in Europe and South America.<ref name="cuvier1">{{cite book|last=Cuvier|first=Georges|year=1817|title=Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation : pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée|chapter=Sixié ordre des mammiféres. Les pachydermes|publisher=Chez Déterville|pages=227–245|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/18030#page/269/mode/1up}}</ref> Cuvier also erected several other species of ''Mastodon'' originating from other continents in 1824.<ref name="cuvier2">{{cite book|last=Cuvier|first=Georges|year=1824|title=Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles, où l'on rétablit les caractères de plusieurs animaux dont les révolutions du globe ont détruit les espèces|section=Résumé général: Des Animaux dont les caractères ont été indiqués ou rectifiés, ou dont l'Ostéologie a été décrite dans cet ouvrage|volume=5|publisher=G. Dufour and E. d'Ocagne|pages=527–536|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/214698#page/535/mode/1up}}</ref> Despite Cuvier's genus name being younger than multiple other genus names, ''Mastodon'' became the most commonly used genus name for the 19th century.<ref name="mammut">{{cite book|last=Perry Hay|first=Oliver|year=1902|title=Bibliography and catalogue of the fossil vertebrata of North America|publisher=Washington Government Printing Office|pages=707–712|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/59973#page/713/mode/1up}}</ref><ref name="osborn"/>