''Stegodibelodon'' is an extinct genus of primitive elephantid known from the

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

of Africa. It is known only from the Djourab region of northern

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

, where it was discovered in 1964 by the hydrogeologist Jean-Louis Schneider.Yves Coppens, 1972
Un nouveau proboscidien du Pliocène du Tchad, ''Stegodibelodon schneideri'' nov. gen. nov. sp., et le phylum des ''Stegotetrabelodontinae''
''Comptes Rendus de l'Académie de Sciences de Paris'', Série D, 274, pp. 2962-2965. It differs from the most primitive elephantid ''

Stegotetrabelodon ''Stegotetrabelodon'' ("four roofed tusked-tooth") is an extinct genus of primitive elephantid from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Italy. It is the earliest and most primitive member of the family, notab ...

'' by the absence of lower tusks and a shortened

mandibular symphysis In human anatomy, the facial skeleton of the skull the external surface of the mandible is marked in the median line by a faint ridge, indicating the mandibular symphysis (Latin: ''symphysis menti'') or line of junction where the two lateral ha ...

, and the more pronounced nature of the lamellae on the molars (with the median sulcus being absent), with each molar possessing at least seven lamellae, though the number of lamellae is low compared to modern elephant teeth, and the teeth are also low crowned (brachydont) relative to modern elephants. The genus ''Stegodibelodon'' and the species ''Stegodibelodon schneideri'' were described in 1972 by Yves Coppens. This genus has three referenced fossil collections, one from the Pliocene in Chad and two from the Miocene to Pliocene in Ethiopia. The genus is not well known and opinions differ on whether it is a "true elephant" or not. ''Stegodibelodon schneideri'' is only known from the Djourab region in northern Chad where numerous fossils were unearthed on three sites in the Toros-Menalla fossil sector in 1964 and then from 1998.Mackaye Hassan Taïsso, 2001
Les Proboscidiens du mio-pliocène du Tchad : biodiversité, biochronologie, paléoécologie et paléobiogéographie
Thesis, Chapter III, pp. 163-175, Plates 12-15.

References

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The Proboscidians ('elephants') at the time of Abel (''Australopithecus bahrelghazali'') and Toumaï (''Sahelanthropus tchadensis''
Photographs of two collection sites presenting these fossils of ''Stegodibelodon schneideri in situ''.
Djourab, cabinet of curiosities, footprints
Photographs of one collection sites presenting these fossils of ''Stegodibelodon schneideri in situ''.
Among the fossils of Djourab
Photographs of ''Stegodibelodon schneideri'' in the Paleontology Gallery of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Miocene proboscideans Prehistoric elephants Prehistoric placental genera Miocene mammals of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1972 {{paleo-proboscidean-stub