Palaeomastodon

noun

Palaeo·​mastodon

¦pālēō,

¦palēō+

: a genus of primitive proboscidean mammals of the Oligocene of Egypt that are characterized by a long skull, short tusks, a long lower jaw, 22 molars, and a body about half as large as that of the Asian elephant and are commonly regarded as ancestral to the mastodons

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from pale- + Mastodon

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