In Depth A relative of the gomphothere elephants, Stegomastodon along with Cuvieronius was one of only two known elephant genera to spread into South America (remains once considered to belong to the Mammut genus are now assigned to these two genera). Unlike other gomphothere elephants (those like Gomphotherium), Stegomastodon only had two tusks that grew … Read more
In Depth Although Moeritherium is popularly dubbed as a primitive elephant, it is not directly ancestral to today’s modern elephants. In fact in the past the elephants radiated out into a number of different families of varying forms, but like with other mammal groups most of these did survive into modern times. Hailing all the … Read more
In Depth Cuvieronius immediately stands out from amongst other elephants with its curved spirally twisting trunks which are often described as narwhal-like. However something else which this elephant is more famous for is that at the time of writing it is one of two genera of elephants that are known to have lived in South … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – Mammalian fauna of the upper Juntura Formation, the black butte local fauna. in The Juntura Basin: Studies in Earth History and Paleoecology. – Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 53 (1): 77. – J. A. Shotwell & D. E. Russel – 1963. – A Late Cenozoic Vertebrate Fauna from the … Read more
In Depth Phiomia was a primitive proboscean of the Eocene/Oligocene that was still quite similar in appearance to a modern elephant. One of the key features about Phiomia was the lower mouth where two tusks grew forwards into a shovel-like structure. This may have been used to shovel up plants from out of the ground, … Read more
In Depth Like with other gompothere elephants, Amebelodon had two pairs of tusks, one in the upper jaw and one pair in the lower. The lower pair of tusks are of particular interest with this genus since they were shaped to form a shovel-like structure that pointed forwards from the lower jaw. It is widely … Read more