''Eubelodon'' is an extinct genus of gomphothere (a family in the order Proboscidea, which also includes modern elephants) which lived in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

during the Miocene Epoch. It contains a single species: ''Eubelodon morrilli''.

Description

''Eubelodon'' is considered to be a trilophodont gomphothere. It has the highly unusual combination of retaining a long lower jaw, but having lost the lower tusks, a combination only shared with fellow North American gomphothere ''

Gnathabelodon ''Gnathabelodon'' is an extinct genus of gomphothere (a sister group to modern elephants) endemic to North America that includes species that lived during the Middle to Late Miocene. ''"Gnathabelodon" buckneri'' Sellards, 1940 has been renamed ...

'' and the choerolophodontid '' Choerolophodon.''

Fossil distribution

Fossils are restricted to what is now the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Remains were found in the Poison Ivy Quarry,

Antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

, Brown County, Nebraska, and Tripp County, South Dakota.

Taxonomy

''Eubelodon'' was named by Erwin Hinckly Barbour in 1914. It was synonymized subjectively with ''Trilophodon'' by Osborn in 1918 and again by Tobien in 1973 with '' Gomphotherium''. It was assigned to

Gomphotheriidae Gomphotheres are an extinct group of proboscideans related to modern elephants. First appearing in Africa during the Oligocene, they dispersed into Eurasia and North America during the Miocene and arrived in South America during the Pleistocene ...

by Erwin Barbour in 1914. It was then assigned to Rhynchotheriinae by McKenna and Bell in 1997, Carroll in 1988, Shoshani and Tassy in 1996, Lambert and Shoshani in 1998, and Shoshani and Tassy in 2005. A 2016 study assigned it to Gomphotheriidae. Cladogram showing its phylogenetic position according to Mothé et al. 2016: Some other studies have assigned it to

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 ...

. Cladogram after Li et al. 2023:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405369 Miocene mammals of North America Gomphotheres Miocene proboscideans Prehistoric placental genera Fossil taxa described in 1914