''Granastrapotherium'' is an extinct genus of ungulate mammals, described from remains found in rocks of the

Honda Group is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

in the

Tatacoa Desert The Tatacoa Desert is the second largest arid zone in Colombia after the Guajira Peninsula. It occupies more than 330 square kilometers. This region is located north of Huila Department, 38 km from the city of Neiva in Colombia and from Nata ...

, in the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n departments of Huila and Tolima, at the Miocene fossil site La Venta. The only species formally recognized is ''Granastrapotherium snorki'' (from Spanish, ''gran'', "great"; '' Astrapotherium'', "lightning beast"; and snorkel, breathing tube, in reference to the trunk). Remains found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and Peru, seem to belong to ''Granastrapotherium'' or a very similar animal.

Description

This

astrapothere Astrapotheria is an extinct order of South American and Antarctic hoofed mammals that existed from the late Paleocene to the Middle Miocene, ."The uruguaytheriine Astrapotheriidae from the rich middle Miocene Honda Group of the upper Magdale ...

differs from its coeval, the uruguaytheriine astrapotheriid '' Xenastrapotherium'' by their larger size, between 3 and 4 tonnes, with tusks about one meter long, making it one of the largest representatives of Astrapotheria, only surpassed by some species of ''

Parastrapotherium ''Parastrapotherium'' is an extinct genus of South American land mammal that existed from the Late Oligocene (Deseadan SALMA) to the Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian SALMA). The genus includes some of the largest and smallest known astrapotherian, bu ...

''. Other differences include the presence of only one

premolar The premolars, also called premolar teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant in the permanent set of teeth, making eight premolars total in the mouth ...

, the lack of incisors in both jaws and the disposition of the canine tooth, which are very large and horizontal, which reminds much less of those of hippos and more of the tusks of some ancient relatives of elephants (such as '' Palaeomastodon''), although the defences in elephants and their relatives are not formed by the canines but the incisors. Similarly, the large nostrils appear extremely withdrawn on the skull, so this creature had to have a larger

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Computing * Trunk (software), in rev ...

than other astrapotheres. Most likely, like elephants, this animal used its muscular proboscis together with its tusks to cut leaves off trees and shrubs.Johnson, Steven C. & Madden, Richard H. 1997. Uruguaytheriinae Astrapotheres of Tropical South America. Chapter 22 in “Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia”. Edited by Richard F. Kay, Richard H. Madden, Richard L. Cifelli, and John J. Flynn. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London.

Phylogeny

Cladogram based in the phylogenetic analysis published by Vallejo-Pareja ''et al''., 2015, showing the position of ''Granastrapotherium'':

References

External links

Website of the Berkeley University about the fauna of La Venta, including ''Granastrapotherium''

"Snorki the giant's friends and relatives" in the blog Tetrapod Zoology

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2888784, from2=Q28563695 Meridiungulata Miocene mammals of South America Laventan Neogene Colombia Fossils of Colombia Honda Group, Colombia Fossil taxa described in 1997 Prehistoric placental genera