The mastodont-grade proboscideans represent an important stage in the evolution of the group, establishing the basic pattern of the evolution of the crown groups of proboscideans. The research on mastodons has a history of more than 400 years. The classification and nomenclature have been revised and changed many times, and the problems in their evolution were fully reflected in the history of mastodon nomenclature. In this paper, we undertook a bibliographical research into the nomenclature and etymology of various mastodont groups, reviewing 175 translated Chinese names of mastodont-grade proboscideans, including 12 taxon names higher than the genus level, 46 genera, and 117 species, covering almost all the species of the mastodont radiation. On this basis, we review the principal phylogenetic hypotheses of mastodont interrelationships, and highlight problems in the classification and nomenclature of mastodonts. The evolution of the skull and mandible of mastodons is continuous in all clades, reflecting the same parallel evolution trend; while, although the morphological characteristics of cheek teeth across all lineages are not obvious, they are relatively stable in each lineage. Choerolophodontidae is the most robust monophyletic group within the mastodonts, of which Synconolophus may be a distinct, valid genus. Miomastodon and Pliomastodon of Mammutidae may both be valid, but they are not necessarily the direct ancestor of Mammut americanum . The phylogenetic relationship between Platybelodon danovi , P. grangeri and Aphanobelodon zhaoi within the Amebelodontidae is questionable, depending on whether the lower incisor section of P. danovi is the dentine rod structure or not, while Konobelodon britti in America may be a synonym of Torynobelodon loomisi . The species assigned to Konobelodon in Asia is possibly not amebelodontids, but probably attributable to Paratetralophodon , instead; Serridentinus of Gomphotheriidae may be a valid taxon, representing a trend towards somewhat zygodonty in Gomphotheriidae that terminated with the Cuvieroniinae. The Cuvieroniinae may only include Cuvieronius and Rhynchotherium , while other brevirostrine gomphotheres in America, such as Stegomastodon may have been evolved from a lineage of amebelodonts. Notiomastodon may be related to Sinomastodon , which itself may have originated from Pliomastodon (?) zhupengensis in southern China. The name Mastodon intermedius Teilhard de Chardin & Trassaert, 1937 (now Sinomastoodon intermedius ) has the senior primary homonym Mastodon intermedius Eichwald, 1831. We suggest that Sinomastodon intermedius should be replaced with its senior synonym-Sinomastodon sendaicus (Matsumoto, 1924).
