| Konobelodon Temporal range: Miocene, | |
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| Mandible of Konobelodon britti on display at the State Museum of Pennsylvania | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | † Amebelodontidae |
| Genus: | † Konobelodon Lambert, 1990 |
| Species | |
Konobelodon is an extinct genus of amebelodont proboscidean from the Miocene of Africa, Eurasia and North America.
Konobelodon was originally coined as a subgenus of Amebelodon , [2] and was subsequently elevated to full generic rank in a 2014 re-appraisal of "Mastodon" atticus. [3] Within Amebelodontinae, Konobelodon is closely related to Platybelodon and Torynobelodon . [1] The genus Konobelodon likely originated in eastern Eurasia, with K. robustus being known from the Liushu Formation in the Gansu Province of China. [4] Under this hypothesis, it diverged via separate migrations westward into Europe and western Asia, represented by K. atticus, and eastward into North America, where the genus arrived c. 7 Ma and survived until the very end of the Miocene. [3] The species Konobelodon cyrenaicus is known from the Late Miocene of North Africa, representing the latest surviving amebelodont on the African continent. [5]
As shovel-tusked amebelodonts, Konobelodon has two pairs of tusks, one growing from the upper jaw and a second from the lower. K. robustus is estimated to have had a body mass between 2,802–7,367 kilograms (6,177–16,241 lb), making it generally larger than most gomphotheres on account of its thicker limb bones. Its standing posture, however, was not likely as column-like as that of extant elephants and American brevirostrine gomphotheres. [4] The lower tusks were proportionally large, reaching 1.61 metres (5.3 ft) in length. [6]
Konobelodon is suggested to have been a browser, based on dental microwear analysis. The upper tusks were likely used for slicing and scraping, while the lower tusks may have been used for digging. [7]
Proboscidea is a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. Proboscideans include some of the largest known land mammals. The largest land mammal of all time may have been a proboscidean; the elephant Palaeoloxodon namadicus has been estimated to be up to 5.2 m (17.1 ft) at the shoulder and may have weighed up to 22 t, surpassing the paraceratheres, the otherwise largest known land mammals, though this estimate was made based on a single fragmentary femur and is speculative. The largest extant proboscidean is the African bush elephant, with a record of size of 4 m (13.1 ft) at the shoulder and 10.4 t. In addition to their enormous size, later proboscideans are distinguished by tusks and long, muscular trunks, which were less developed or absent in early proboscideans.
Elephantidae is a family of large, herbivorous proboscidean mammals collectively called elephants and mammoths. These are large terrestrial mammals with a snout modified into a trunk and teeth modified into tusks. Most genera and species in the family are extinct. Only two genera, Loxodonta and Elephas, are living.
Mammutidae is an extinct family of proboscideans belonging to Elephantimorpha. It is best known for the mastodons, which inhabited North America from the Late Miocene until their extinction at beginning of the Holocene, around 11,000 years ago. The earliest fossils of the group are known from the Late Oligocene of Africa, around 24 million years ago, and fossils of the group have also been found across Eurasia. The name "mastodon" derives from Greek, μαστός "nipple" and ὀδούς "tooth", referring to their characteristic teeth.
Platybelodon is an extinct genus of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to modern-day elephants, placed in the "shovel tusker" family Amebelodontidae. Species lived during the middle Miocene Epoch in Africa, Asia and the Caucasus.
Amebelodon is a genus of extinct proboscidean belonging to Amebelodontidae. The most striking attribute of this animal is its lower tusks, which are narrow, elongated, and distinctly flattened with the degree of flattening varying among the different species. Two valid species are currently placed within this genus, which was endemic to North America. Other species once assigned to Amebelodon are now assigned to the genus Konobelodon, which was once a subgenus.
Gomphotheres are an extinct group of proboscideans related to modern elephants. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs and dispersed into South America during the Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange. Gomphotheres are a paraphyletic group that is ancestral to Elephantidae, which contains modern elephants, as well as Stegodontidae. While most famous forms such as Gomphotherium had long lower jaws with tusks, which is the ancestral condition for the group, some later members developed shortened (brevirostrine) lower jaws with either vestigial or no lower tusks, looking very similar to modern elephants, an example of parallel evolution, which outlasted the long-jawed gomphotheres. By the end of the Early Pleistocene, gomphotheres became extinct in Afro-Eurasia, with the last two genera, Cuvieronius ranging from southern North America to western South America, and Notiomastodon having a wide range over most of South America until the end of the Pleistocene around 12,000 years ago, when they became extinct following the arrival of humans.
Gomphotherium is an extinct genus of gomphothere proboscidean from the Neogene of Eurasia, Africa and North America. The genus is probably paraphyletic.
Anancus is an extinct genus of "tetralophodont gomphothere" native to Afro-Eurasia, that lived from the Tortonian stage of the late Miocene until its extinction during the Early Pleistocene, roughly from 8.5–2 million years ago.
Sinomastodon is an extinct gomphothere genus known from the Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene of Asia, including China, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and probably Kashmir.
Stegotetrabelodon is an extinct genus of primitive elephantid from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of Africa and Eurasia and the Arabian peninsula. The type species is S. syrticus of late Miocene Africa, which reached roughly 4 m (13.1 ft) in shoulder height and 11–12 tonnes in weight. The other unequivocally recognized species are S. orbus, also of late Miocene Africa, and S. emiratus from the Late Miocene of the Arabian Peninsula. Other species outside of Africa are questionably placed in this genus, including teeth from Late Miocene Hungary and Iran originally described as being of the Mastodon subgenus Bunolophodon, Chinese specimens originally described as being also of Mastodon, as well as of Tetralophodon and Stegodon, and a species from the late Miocene-aged Dhok Pathan Formation in Pakistan, S. maluvalensis.
Tetralophodon is an extinct genus of "tetralophodont gomphothere" belonging to the superfamily Elephantoidea, known from the Miocene of Afro-Eurasia.
Rhynchotherium is an extinct genus of proboscidea endemic to North America and Central America during the Miocene through Pliocene from 13.650 to 3.6 Ma, living for approximately 10 million years.
Paratetralophodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean from late Neogene deposits in India and China. Although traditionally classified in the family Gomphotheriidae, recent studies find it to be more closely related to modern elephants.
Archaeobelodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean of the family Amebelodontidae that lived in Europe and North Africa (Egypt) during the Miocene from 16.9 to 16.0 Ma, living for approximately 0.9 million years.
Choerolophodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean that lived during the Miocene of Eurasia and Africa. Fossils of Choerolophodon have been found in Africa, Southeast Europe, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and China.
Amebelodontidae is an extinct 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 other proboscideans by having flattened lower tusks and very elongate mandibular symphysis. The lower tusks could grow considerable size, with those of Konobelodon reaching 1.61 metres (5.3 ft) in length. Their molar teeth are typically trilophodont, and possessed posttrite conules. In the past, amebelodonts' shovel-like mandibular tusks led to them being portrayed scooping up water plants, however, dental microwear suggests that they were browsers and mixed feeders. The lower tusks have been proposed to have had a variety of functions depending on the species, including stripping bark, cutting through vegetation, as well as possibly digging. They first appeared in Africa during the Early Miocene, and subsequently dispersed into Eurasia and then North America. They became extinct by the beginning of the Pliocene. While some phylogenetic studies have recovered Amebelodontidae as a monophyletic group that forms the sister group to Gomphotheriidae proper, some authors have argued that Amebelodontidae may be polyphyletic, with it being suggested that the shovel-tusked condition arose several times independently within Gomphotheriidae, thus rendering the family invalid.
Torynobelodon was a genus of large herbivorous mammal related to the elephant. It lived during the late Miocene Epoch in Asia and North America.
Eurybelodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean in the family Amebelodontidae. It lived in the Clarendonian age of the Miocene.
Aphanobelodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean in the family Amebelodontidae.
Protanancus is an extinct genus of amebelodontid proboscidean from Kenya, Pakistan and Thailand. The genus consists solely of type species P. macinnesi. The generic name is derived from the unrelated Anancus, and the Greek prōtos "first".
Genera of the order Proboscidea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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