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Extinct genus of elephant-like mammals From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gomphotherium (/ˌɡɒmfəˈθɪəriəm/; "nail beast" for its double set of straight tusks) is an extinct genus of gomphothere proboscidean from the Neogene of Eurasia, Africa and North America.[1][2] It is the most diverse genus of gompothere, with over a dozen valid species. The genus is probably paraphyletic.[3][4]
Gomphotherium Temporal range: | |
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Specimen of Gomphotherium productum at the American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Proboscidea |
Family: | †Gomphotheriidae |
Genus: | †Gomphotherium Burmeister, 1837 |
Type species | |
Gomphotherium angustidens (Cuvier, 1817) | |
Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
Most species of Gomphotherium were similar in size to the Asian elephant, with G. productum (known from a 35-year-old male) measuring 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in) tall and weighing 4.6 t (4.5 long tons; 5.1 short tons). The largest species G. steinheimense, known from a complete 37-year-old male found in Mühldorf, Germany, measured up to 3.17 m (10.4 ft) tall and weighed 6.7 t (6.6 long tons; 7.4 short tons).[5]
Gomphotherium, like most basal elephantimorphs, had an elongated lower jaw which bore tusks.[6] Species of Gomphotherium are defined by their conservative molar morphology, which includes "trilophed intermediate molars, third molars with three to four loph(id)s, and pretrite half-loph(id)s typically with anterior and posterior accessory conules that form trefoil-patterned enamel loops with wear (simple molar crowns with no accessory conules on the posttrite side of the crown)".[7]
Most species of Gomphotherium are inferred to have been browsers or mixed feeders, but specimens of G. steinheimense from China are suggested to have been grazers.[3] Oxygen and carbon isotopes from G. productum enamel unearthed in the Port of Entry Pit, Oklahoma reveal it fed predominantly on C3 plants year-round.[8]
Gomphotherium likely originated in Africa during the late Oligocene-early Miocene. The oldest remains of Gomphotherium are known from Africa, dating to approximately 19.5 million years ago.[9] Gomphotherium migrated into Eurasia across the "Gomphotherium land bridge" approximately 19 million years ago.[10] Gomphotherium underwent rapid evolution after its arrival in Eurasia, reaching its peak diversity during the Early-Middle Miocene.[10] Gomphotherium has been posited to be paraphyletic and the ancestor of later gomphothere genera, including the "tetralophodont gomphotheres" such as Tetralophodon which are probably ancestral to stegodontids and elephantids.[3] Gomphotherium first arrived in North America during the mid-Miocene, approximately 16-15 million years ago,[11] and is suggested to be ancestral to later New World gomphothere genera, such as Cuvieronius, Stegomastodon and Rhynchotherium.[12] Asian populations of Gomphotherium are suggested to have been ancestral to Sinomastodon.[13] The last European species of Gomphotherium became extinct at the beginning of the Late Miocene, around the start of MN9, approximately 10 million years ago.[13] The last Gomphotherium species disappeared from North America at the beginning of the Pliocene, approximately 5 million years ago.[11]
Over a dozen species of Gomphotherium are considered valid, with over 30 junior synonyms proposed for these taxa.[14]
Phylogeny after Wang et al., 2017[14]
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Outgroups "G. annectens group" "G. angustidens group" "Derived Gomphotherium" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cladogram of Elephantiformes after Li et al. 2023, showing a paraphyletic Gomphotheriidae and Gomphotherium.[16]
Elephantiformes |
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