A large extinct elephant-like mammal with long tusks that roamed North America and Europe during the Ice Age.
From French 'mastodon,' derived from Greek 'mastos' (breast) + 'odous' (tooth), literally 'breast-tooth,' referring to the nipple-shaped bumps on its molars.
Mastodon teeth had weird bumpy ridges that looked like breasts to 18th-century French scientists, which is how this creature got its humorous scientific name—a reminder that ancient discoveries were sometimes named by creative (and cheeky) researchers.
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