''Aphanobelodon'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of proboscidean in the family

Amebelodontidae Amebelodontidae is an extinct family (biology), family of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to elephants. They were formerly assigned to Gomphotheriidae, but recent authors consider them a distinct family. They are distinguished from ...

Taxonomy

The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

is the complete cranium of an adult female, and the

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype (biology), isotype ...

s include the remains of another adult female, an adult male, four subadults, and three calves. It is one of the few proboscidean species that lacks upper tusks, a trait previously thought to be unique to deinotheres. The generic name comes from ''aphano'', meaning invisible, and ''belodon'', meaning front tooth. The specific name of the type species is after Rong Zhao, who discovered and excavated the specimens.

References

Amebelodontidae Miocene proboscideans Miocene mammals of Asia Prehistoric elephants Prehistoric placental genera Fossil taxa described in 2016 {{paleo-proboscidean-stub