Mastodon fossils found in Alaska and Yukon shows local extinction long before human colonization

Existing age estimates of American mastodon fossils indicate that these extinct relatives of elephants lived in the Arctic and Subarctic when the area was covered by ice caps, a chronology that is at odds with what scientists know about the massive animals. Their’ preferred habitat was forests and wetlands abundant with leafy food. Now, scientists are revising fossil age estimates and suggesting that the north was only a temporary home to mastodons when the climate was warm.