Anyone know the origins/meaning of the Mastodon logo? (Not the mammoth, but the round one with three cartouches.)

I ask because the cartouches with dots in them remind me of a tree's seed pods. Which remind me of this amazing article I read a few years back "The Trees That Miss The Mammoths" http://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/trees-that-miss-the-mammoths/

It's quite a read.