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Notiomastodon
''Notiomastodon'' is an extinct proboscidean genus of gomphotheres (a distant relative to modern elephants) endemic to South America from the Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene. ''Notiomastodon'' specimens reached a size similar to that of the modern Asian elephant. Like other brevirostrine gomphotheres such as ''Cuvieronius'' and '' Stegomastodon'', ''Notiomastodon'' was characterized by its short snout and tall, highly arched skull. The short jaw was due to the loss of the lower tusks found in more primitive gomphotheres. ''Notiomastodon'' was a generalist feeder capable of consuming various types of plants, which varied according to local environments. In the course of the last glacial period, there was an adaptation towards the consumption of grasses. The genus was originally named in 1929, and has been controversial in the course of taxonomic history as it has frequently been confused with or synonymized with forms called ''Haplomastodon'' and ''Stegomastodon''. Ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gomphothere Teeth South America Cuvier 1806
Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs and dispersed into South America during the Pleistocene following the Great American Interchange. Gomphotheriidae in its broadest sense is probably paraphyletic with respect to Elephantidae, which contains modern elephants. While most famous forms such as ''Gomphotherium'' had long lower jaws with tusks, which is the ancestral condition for the group, after these forms became extinct, the surviving gomphotheres had short jaws with either vestigial or no lower tusks (brevirostrine), looking very similar to modern elephants, an example of parallel evolution. By the end of the Early Pleistocene, gomphotheres became extinct in Afro-Eurasia, with the last two genera, ''Cuvieronius'' persisting in southern Nort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
