''Phiomia'' is an extinct genus of basal proboscid that lived in what is now Northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

during the Late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "da ...

to Early

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...

some 37–30 million years ago.Strauss, B
Prehistoric Elephant Pictures and Profiles
/ref> "''Phiomia serridens''" means "saw-toothed

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage ...

Faiyum Faiyum ( ar, الفيوم ' , borrowed from cop, ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ or Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ ' from egy, pꜣ ym "the Sea, Lake") is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum ...

Description

''Phiomia serridens'' (=''P. wintoni'', ''P. osborni'', ''P. minor'') is estimated to had shoulder height , while ''P. major'' got larger size. It vaguely resembled a modern

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae a ...

, although, based on the shape of its

nasal bone The nasal bones are two small oblong bones, varying in size and form in different individuals; they are placed side by side at the middle and upper part of the face and by their junction, form the bridge of the upper one third of the nose. Ea ...

s, it had only a very short trunk. It had short tusks on the upper jaw and also short shovel-like tusks on the lower jaw that were most likely used for gathering food. These were similar to those of the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent ...

Platybelodon ''Platybelodon'' ("flat-spear tusk") is an extinct genus of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to modern-day elephants. Species lived during the middle Miocene Epoch in Africa, Asia and the Caucasus. Palaeobiology ''Platybelodon'' w ...

'', '' Archaeobelodon'', and ''

Amebelodon ''Amebelodon'' is a genus of extinct proboscidean belonging to Amebelodontidae (the so-called shovel-tuskers), a group of proboscideans related to the modern elephants and their close relative the mammoth. The most striking attribute of this anim ...

'', but considerably smaller. The tusks in the upper jaw may have been used in defence, or scraping bark off trees. File:Phiomia NT small.jpg, Life reconstruction of ''Phiomia serridens'' File:Phiomia osborni.jpg, Restoration File:Phiomia minor.jpg, alt=Phiomia minor skull and model, ''Phiomia serridens'' (=''P. minor'') skull and model

References

Elephantiformes Prehistoric placental genera Eocene mammals of Africa Oligocene mammals of Africa Eocene proboscideans Oligocene proboscideans Priabonian genus first appearances Rupelian genus extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1902 {{paleo-proboscidean-stub