Basic Proboscidean Info
Proboscideans are a group of animals having a proboscis (hence the name), or “trunk”. The order contains primitive proboscideans (such as Moeritherium and Deinotherium), mastodonts (such as Gomphotherium, and Mammut), and elephants (such as Stegodon, Mammuthus, Primelephas, and today’s Loxodonta and Elephas). Below are a few proboscideans worth having a look at. The entire proboscidean family tree is so large, it would take volumes of books to cover them all in-depth.
Moeritherium
Moeritherium was one of the first (though not the first) proboscideans. It stood about 2’ tall and lived in Eocene Africa.
Deinotherium
Deinotherium was a massive proboscidean that lived in Europe, Asia, and Africa during the middle Miocene and into the early Pleistocene. It was a strange creature with a short trunk. Its tusks erupted from the lower jaw and curled down and rearward, giving it the nickname, “hoe tusker”. At 16 feet tall, it was the third largest land mammal of all time, with only Paraceratherium and Mammuthus sungari being larger.
Platybelodon
Platybelodon was a type of medium-sized gomphothere that lived in Miocene Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. Like the deinotheres, it would have had a shorter trunk than elephants. Platybelodon had a strange tusk arrangement with two short, straight tusks in the standard proboscidean location, and two flat, squared tusks erupting from its lengthened lower jaw. This strange arrangement earned it the nickname, “shovel tusker”.
Mammut
Mammut ranged across Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and Central America starting in the Oligocene and ending in the Pleistocene. The most famous (and most recent) was Mammut americanum, the American Mastodon. Though not a true elephant, this mastodon resembled the Woolly Mammoth, though it would have had less hair, was much more robust (mammoths were relatively slender creatures), had shorter tusks, and had a longer head. New, controversial studies show tuberculosis affected a large percentage of the mastodon population at the end of the Pleistocene.
Stegodon
Stegodon lived in Asia during the Pliocene and into the Pleistocene. It was a large proboscidean at 13 feet tall and was a very close relative of all succeeding elephants. Its tusks were long and so close together a trunk probably couldn’t fit between them.
Mammuthus
Mammuthus is probably the most famous of the extinct proboscideans. Though the northern Woolly Mammoth was far smaller than popular culture wants us to believe (about the same size as the average African elephant), its southern cousins, the Columbian mammoths were up to 14 feet tall. The Asian Sungari mammoth was larger still, measuring in at 17 feet tall…that’s a full 7 feet taller than the average African elephant!
Loxodonta
Loxodonta is today’s African elephant. It originally evolved in the Pliocene and barely survives today. The largest African elephant on record was approximately 13 feet tall.
Elephas
Elephas is commonly known as the Asian elephant. They tend to average around 9 feet in height, though some have reached nearly 12 feet tall. An interesting note is that the Asian elephant is the closest living relative of the mammoth, and their teeth are nearly identical to those of a mammoth.
Proboscideans are a group of animals having a proboscis (hence the name), or “trunk”. The order contains primitive proboscideans (such as Moeritherium and Deinotherium), mastodonts (such as Gomphotherium, and Mammut), and elephants (such as Stegodon, Mammuthus, Primelephas, and today’s Loxodonta and Elephas). Below are a few proboscideans worth having a look at. The entire proboscidean family tree is so large, it would take volumes of books to cover them all in-depth.
Moeritherium
Moeritherium was one of the first (though not the first) proboscideans. It stood about 2’ tall and lived in Eocene Africa.
Deinotherium
Deinotherium was a massive proboscidean that lived in Europe, Asia, and Africa during the middle Miocene and into the early Pleistocene. It was a strange creature with a short trunk. Its tusks erupted from the lower jaw and curled down and rearward, giving it the nickname, “hoe tusker”. At 16 feet tall, it was the third largest land mammal of all time, with only Paraceratherium and Mammuthus sungari being larger.
Platybelodon
Platybelodon was a type of medium-sized gomphothere that lived in Miocene Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. Like the deinotheres, it would have had a shorter trunk than elephants. Platybelodon had a strange tusk arrangement with two short, straight tusks in the standard proboscidean location, and two flat, squared tusks erupting from its lengthened lower jaw. This strange arrangement earned it the nickname, “shovel tusker”.
Mammut
Mammut ranged across Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and Central America starting in the Oligocene and ending in the Pleistocene. The most famous (and most recent) was Mammut americanum, the American Mastodon. Though not a true elephant, this mastodon resembled the Woolly Mammoth, though it would have had less hair, was much more robust (mammoths were relatively slender creatures), had shorter tusks, and had a longer head. New, controversial studies show tuberculosis affected a large percentage of the mastodon population at the end of the Pleistocene.
Stegodon
Stegodon lived in Asia during the Pliocene and into the Pleistocene. It was a large proboscidean at 13 feet tall and was a very close relative of all succeeding elephants. Its tusks were long and so close together a trunk probably couldn’t fit between them.
Mammuthus
Mammuthus is probably the most famous of the extinct proboscideans. Though the northern Woolly Mammoth was far smaller than popular culture wants us to believe (about the same size as the average African elephant), its southern cousins, the Columbian mammoths were up to 14 feet tall. The Asian Sungari mammoth was larger still, measuring in at 17 feet tall…that’s a full 7 feet taller than the average African elephant!
Loxodonta
Loxodonta is today’s African elephant. It originally evolved in the Pliocene and barely survives today. The largest African elephant on record was approximately 13 feet tall.
Elephas
Elephas is commonly known as the Asian elephant. They tend to average around 9 feet in height, though some have reached nearly 12 feet tall. An interesting note is that the Asian elephant is the closest living relative of the mammoth, and their teeth are nearly identical to those of a mammoth.
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text, photos, and website Copyright Nick Pfannenstiel
2010 paleo-nick@nicksfossils.com
