''Platybelodon'' ("flat-spear tusk") is an extinct genus of large herbivorous

proboscidea The Proboscidea (; , ) are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. Fr ...

n mammals related to modern-day

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 ...

s. Species lived during the middle

Miocene Epoch 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" ...

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 ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and the Caucasus.

Palaeobiology

''Platybelodon'' was previously believed to have fed in the swampy areas of grassy

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

s, using its teeth to shovel up aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation. However, wear patterns on the teeth suggest that it used its lower tusks to strip

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, e ...

from trees, and may have used the sharp incisors that formed the edge of the "shovel" more like a modern-day

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

, grasping branches with its trunk and rubbing them against the lower teeth to cut it from a tree. Adult animals in particular might have eaten coarser vegetation more frequently than juveniles.

Images

File:Platybelodon.png, ''Platybelodon grangeri'' reconstruction with size comparison. File:Platybelodon NT small.jpg, Life reconstruction of ''Platybelodon grangeri''. File:Platybelodon.jpg, Outdated restoration of ''P. grangeri'' as a swamp-dweller. File:Platybelodon grangeri.jpg, ''P. grangeri'' skull.

References

External links

Amebelodontidae Miocene proboscideans Messinian genus extinctions Miocene mammals of Africa Miocene mammals of Asia Miocene mammals of Europe Prehistoric placental genera Langhian genus first appearances Fossil taxa described in 1928 {{paleo-proboscidean-stub

Palaeobiology

Images

See also

References

Further reading

External links