Mammutidae

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Mammutidae
Temporal range: Late Oligocene - Holocene 27.5–0.011  Ma
Mammut skeleton Museum of the Earth.jpg
Mounted Mammut skeleton, Museum of the Earth
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Clade: Elephantimorpha
Clade:† Mammutida
Superfamily:† Mammutoidea
Hay, 1922 [1]
Family:† Mammutidae
Hay, 1922
Genera [2]

† Eozygodon Tassy and Pickford, 1983
† Losodokodon Rasmussen & Gutiérrez, 2009
† Mammut Blumenbach, 1799
† Miomastodon ? Osborn, 1922 [3]
† Sinomammut Mothé et al., 2016 [4]
† Zygolophodon Vacek, 1877

Contents

Synonyms
  • Mastodontidae Gray, 1821

Mammutidae is an extinct family of proboscideans belonging to Elephantimorpha. It is best known for the mastodons (genus Mammut), 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.

Description

Mammutids are characterised by their zygodont molars, where pairs of parallel cusps are merged into sharp-sided riges, which are morphologically conservative and differ little between mammutid species. [5] Like other members of Elephantimorpha, mammutids exhibited horizontal tooth replacement like modern elephants. Some authors have argued that horizontal tooth replacement evolved in parallel in mammutids and members of Elephantida (which includes gomphotheres and elephants), though this is uncertain. [6] Compared to modern elephants, the bones of most mammutids were more robust, with the limb bones in particular being massive. [5] Early members of the group like Eozygodon and Zygolophodon had elongate mandibular symphysis of the lower jaws with lower incisors/tusks, while in later representatives like Sinomammut and Mammut , the lower incisors/tusks were either lost or only vestigially present, and the lower jaws shortened (brevirostrine). This process happened convergently amongst other elephantimorph proboscideans, including gomphotheres, stegodontids, and elephantids. [7] [8] The mammutid "Mammut" borsoni is one of the largest of all proboscideans with an estimated average male body weight of 16 tonnes (35,000 lb) making it one of the largest land mammals of all time, [9] with the tusks of this species being the longest known of any animal, reaching over 5 metres (16 ft) in length. [10]

Ecology

Members of Mammutidae are thought to have been primarily browsers on the foliage and twigs of trees and shrubs. [11] [12] [13] Analysis of American mastodon (Mammut americanum) remains suggests that mammutids had a similar social structure to modern elephants, with herds of adult females and juveniles, with adult males living solitarily or in bonding groups with other males, [14] [15] with adult males periodically engaging in musth-like fighting behaviour against other males. [14]

Evolution

Mammutids are the most basal group within Elephantimorpha, with gomphotheres and other members of Elephantida like amebelodonts being more closely related to elephants. [16] [17] Cladogram after Li et al. (2024). [18]

Elephantiformes

Phiomia

Elephantimorpha
Mammutidae
Elephantida

Choerolophodontidae

Amebelodontidae (shovel tuskers)

"Gomphotheriidae" (paraphyletic, ancestral to Elephantidae)

Mammutids originated in Africa during the Late Oligocene, with the oldest genus Losodokodon dating to around 27.5-24 million years ago. [19] Mammutids belonging to the genus Zygolophodon (as well as possibly other mammutid genera) entered Eurasia across the " Gomphotherium land bridge" during the early Miocene, around 18 million years ago. Mammutid remains are generally rare in Eurasia in comparison to contemporary gomphotheres and deinotheres. [5] During the late early Miocene, around 16.5 million years ago, [20] a population of Zygolophodon entered North America, giving rise to Mammut. [5] The youngest confirmed records of mammutids in Africa date to around 13 million years ago, though possible Late Miocene fossils have been reported from North Africa. [21] At the beginning of the Pleistocene, around 2 to 2.5 million years ago, the last of the Eurasian mammutids, "Mammut" borsoni became extinct, with members of Mammut persisting in North America until the end of the Pleistocene, approximately 11,000 years ago. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proboscidea</span> Order of elephant-like mammals

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. Three species of elephant are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mastodon</span> Extinct genus of proboscideans

A mastodon is a member of the genus Mammut, which, strictly defined, was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to the early Holocene. Mastodons belong to the order Proboscidea, the same order as elephants and mammoths. Mammut is the type genus of the extinct family Mammutidae, which diverged from the ancestors of modern elephants at least 27–25 million years ago, during the Oligocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gomphothere</span> Extinct family of proboscidean mammals

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 as part of the Great American Interchange. Gomphotheres are a paraphyletic group ancestral to Elephantidae, which contains modern elephants, as well as Stegodontidae.

<i>Cuvieronius</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Cuvieronius is an extinct New World genus of gomphothere which ranged from southern North America to western South America during the Pleistocene epoch. Among the last gomphotheres, it became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, approximately 12,000 years ago, following the arrival of humans to the Americas.

<i>Sinomastodon</i> Extinct genus of gomphothere proboscidean

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.

<i>Tetralophodon</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Tetralophodon is an extinct genus of "tetralophodont gomphothere" belonging to the superfamily Elephantoidea, known from the Miocene of Afro-Eurasia.

<i>Rhynchotherium</i> Extinct genus of proboscid

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.

Gnathabelodon is an extinct genus of gomphothere endemic to North America that includes species that lived during the Middle to Late Miocene.

<i>Eubelodon</i> Extinct genus of proboscid

Eubelodon is an extinct genus of gomphothere which lived in North America during the Miocene Epoch. It contains a single species: Eubelodon morrilli.

<i>Zygolophodon</i> Extinct genus of mammutid proboscidean

Zygolophodon is an extinct genus of mammutid proboscidean that lived during the Miocene in Africa, Eurasia, and North America.

<i>Notiomastodon</i> Extinct genus of gomphothere elephantimorph native to South America

Notiomastodon is an extinct genus of gomphothere proboscidean, endemic to South America from the Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene. Notiomastodon specimens reached a size similar to that of the modern Asian elephant, with a body mass of 3-4 tonnes. Like other brevirostrine gomphotheres such as Cuvieronius and Stegomastodon, Notiomastodon had a shortened lower jaw and lacked lower tusks, unlike more primitive gomphotheres like Gomphotherium.

<i>Choerolophodon</i> Extinct genus of mammals

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elephantimorpha</span> Clade of mammals

Elephantimorpha is a clade of proboscideans that contains the Mammutidae (mastodons), as well as Elephantida. All members of this group have the horizontal tooth replacement typical of modern elephants, unlike more primitive members of the Elephantiformes. Like modern elephants, the ancestor of Elephantimorpha was likely capable of communicating via infrasonic calls. While early elephantimorphs generally had lower jaws with an elongated mandibular symphysis at the front of the jaw with well developed lower tusks/incisors, from the Late Miocene onwards, many groups convergently developed brevirostrine (shortened) lower jaws with vestigial or no lower tusks, probably corresponding with the elongation and increasingly dexterity of the trunk allowing it to be used as the primary feeding organ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elephantiformes</span> Suborder of mammals

Elephantiformes is a suborder within the order Proboscidea. Members of this group are primitively characterised by the possession of upper tusks, an elongated mandibular symphysis and lower tusks, and the retraction of the facial region of the skull indicative of the development of a trunk. The earliest known member of the group, Dagbatitherium is known from the Eocene (Lutetian) of Togo, which is only known from isolated teeth, while other primitive elephantiforms like Phiomia and Palaeomastodon are known from the Early Oligocene onwards. Phiomia and Palaeomastodon are often collectively referred to as "palaeomastodonts" and assigned to the family Palaeomastodontidae. Most diversity of the group is placed in the subclade Elephantimorpha, which includes mastodons, as well as modern elephants and gomphotheres (Elephantida). It is disputed as to whether Phiomia is closely related to both Mammutidae and Elephantida with Palaeomastodon being more basal, or if Palaeomastodon is closely related to Mammutidae and Phiomia more closely related to Elephantida.

<i>Sinomammut</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Sinomammut is a mammutid proboscidean from the Miocene of China. Only one species, S. tobieni, is known, named in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amebelodontidae</span> Extinct family of mammals

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 to 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.

<i>Eozygodon</i>

Eozygodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean in the family Mammutidae that is based on a single species, E. morotoensis, named in 1983. It is known from the Early Miocene of Africa and well as possibly the Middle Miocene of China. It is considered a primitive member of the family, retaining a long lower jaw (longirostrine) with lower tusks. The upper tusks are small, and are parallel to each other. The skull of the young adult AM 02 from Auchas, Namibia, was around the size of that of a 10 year old American mastodon, around 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) in maximum length. Dental mesowear from East African specimens suggests a browsing diet. Some authors suggest that Eozygodon could be less closely related to other members of Mammutidae than other mammutids are to Elephantida, making Mammutidae as typically defined paraphyletic.

Eurybelodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean in the family Amebelodontidae. It lived in the Clarendonian age of the Miocene.

<i>"Mammut" borsoni</i> Extinct species of mammutid proboscidean

"Mammut" borsoni is an extinct species of mammutid proboscidean known from the Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene of Eurasia, spanning from western Europe to China. It is the last known mammutid in Eurasia, and amongst the largest of all proboscideans and largest known land mammals.

Research history of <i>Mammut</i> Studies of an extinct genus of proboscidean

The research history of Mammut is extensive given its complicated taxonomic and non-taxonomic histories, with the earliest recorded fossil finds dating back to 1705 in Claverack, New York during the colonial era of what is now the United States of America. Initially thought to belong to biblical antediluvian giants, the fossils were later determined to belong to a proboscidean species as a result of more complete 18th century finds from the locality of Big Bone Lick in what is now Kentucky. The molars were studied by European and American naturalists, who were generally baffled on its lack of analogue to modern elephants, leading to varying hypothesis on the affinities of the teeth. More complete skeletons were found after the independence of the United States colonies from Great Britain within the early 19th century. American historians of the 21st century have made arguments that the early history of M. americanum finds and studies played major roles in shaping American nationalism on the basis of the large sizes and relative completeness of the fossils to disprove the negative theory of social degeneracy in North America.

References

  1. ↑ Hay, Oliver Perry (1922). "Further observations on some extinct elephants" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 35: 97–101. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  2. ↑ Shoshani, Jeheskel; Pascal Tassy (2005). "Advances in proboscidean taxonomy & classification, anatomy & physiology, and ecology & behavior". Quaternary International. 126–128: 5–20. Bibcode:2005QuInt.126....5S. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2004.04.011.
  3. ↑ Wang, S.-Q.; Zhang, X.-X.; Li, C.-X. (2020). "Reappraisal of Serridentinus gobiensis Osborn & Granger and Miomastodon tongxinensis Chen: the validity of Miomastodon" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. doi:10.19615/j.cnki.1000-3118.200310 . Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  4. ↑ Dimila Mothé; Leonardo S. Avilla; Desi Zhao; Guangpu Xie; Boyang Sun (2016). "A new Mammutidae (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Gansu Province, China". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 88 (1): 65–74. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765201520150261 . PMID   26839998.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Koenigswald, Wighart; Březina, Jakub; Werneburg, Ralf; Göhlich, Ursula (2022). "A partial skeleton of "Mammut" borsoni (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the Pliocene of Kaltensundheim (Germany)". Palaeontologia Electronica. 27 (1): 1–20. doi: 10.26879/1188 .
  6. ↑ Sanders, William J. (2018-02-17). "Horizontal tooth displacement and premolar occurrence in elephants and other elephantiform proboscideans". Historical Biology. 30 (1–2): 137–156. Bibcode:2018HBio...30..137S. doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1297436. ISSN   0891-2963. S2CID   89904463.
  7. ↑ Mothé, Dimila; Avilla, Leonardo S.; Zhao, Desi; Xie, Guangpu; Sun, Boyang; Mothé, Dimila; Avilla, Leonardo S.; Zhao, Desi; Xie, Guangpu (2016). "A new Mammutidae (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Gansu Province, China". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 88 (1): 65–74. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765201520150261 . ISSN   0001-3765. PMID   26839998.
  8. ↑ Mothé, Dimila; Ferretti, Marco P.; Avilla, Leonardo S. (2016-01-12). Beatty, Brian Lee (ed.). "The Dance of Tusks: Rediscovery of Lower Incisors in the Pan-American Proboscidean Cuvieronius hyodon Revises Incisor Evolution in Elephantimorpha". PLOS ONE. 11 (1): e0147009. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1147009M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147009 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   4710528 . PMID   26756209.
  9. ↑ Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi: 10.4202/app.00136.2014 .
  10. ↑ Larramendi, Asier (2023-12-10). "Estimating tusk masses in proboscideans: a comprehensive analysis and predictive model". Historical Biology: 1–14. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2286272. ISSN   0891-2963.
  11. ↑ Saarinen, Juha; Lister, Adrian M. (2023-08-14). "Fluctuating climate and dietary innovation drove ratcheted evolution of proboscidean dental traits". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 7 (9): 1490–1502. Bibcode:2023NatEE...7.1490S. doi: 10.1038/s41559-023-02151-4 . ISSN   2397-334X. PMC   10482678 . PMID   37580434.
  12. ↑ Janis, C (May 2004). "The species richness of Miocene browsers, and implications for habitat type and primary productivity in the North American grassland biome". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 207 (3–4): 371–398. Bibcode:2004PPP...207..371J. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2003.09.032.
  13. ↑ Rivals, Florent; Semprebon, Gina M.; Lister, Adrian M. (September 2019). "Feeding traits and dietary variation in Pleistocene proboscideans: A tooth microwear review". Quaternary Science Reviews. 219: 145–153. Bibcode:2019QSRv..219..145R. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.027. S2CID   200073388.
  14. 1 2 Miller, Joshua H.; Fisher, Daniel C.; Crowley, Brooke E.; Secord, Ross; Konomi, Bledar A. (2022). "Male mastodon landscape use changed with maturation (late Pleistocene, North America)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119 (25): e2118329119. Bibcode:2022PNAS..11918329M. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2118329119 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   9231495 . PMID   35696566.
  15. ↑ Haynes, G.; Klimowicz, J. (2003). "Mammoth (Mammuthus spp.) and American mastodont (Mammut americanum) bonesites: what do the differences mean?". Advances in Mammoth Research. 9: 185–204.
  16. ↑ Shoshani, J.; Ferretti, M.P.; Lister, A.M.; Agenbroad, L.D.; Saegusa, H.; Mol, D.; Takahashi, K. (July 2007). "Relationships within the Elephantinae using hyoid characters". Quaternary International. 169–170: 174–185. Bibcode:2007QuInt.169..174S. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2007.02.003. ISSN   1040-6182.
  17. ↑ Baleka, Sina; Varela, Luciano; Tambusso, P. Sebastián; Paijmans, Johanna L.A.; Mothé, Dimila; Stafford, Thomas W.; Fariña, Richard A.; Hofreiter, Michael (December 2021). "Revisiting proboscidean phylogeny and evolution through total evidence and palaeogenetic analyses including Notiomastodon ancient DNA". iScience. 25 (1): 103559. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103559. PMC   8693454 . PMID   34988402.
  18. ↑ Li, Chunxiao; Deng, Tao; Wang, Yang; Sun, Fajun; Wolff, Burt; Jiangzuo, Qigao; Ma, Jiao; Xing, Luda; Fu, Jiao; Zhang, Ji; Wang, Shiqi (2024-06-20). "The trunk replaces the longer mandible as the main feeding organ in elephant evolution". eLife. 12. doi: 10.7554/eLife.90908.3 . ISSN   2050-084X.
  19. ↑ Sanders, William J. (2023-07-07). Evolution and Fossil Record of African Proboscidea (1 ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 48, 117. doi:10.1201/b20016. ISBN   978-1-315-11891-8.
  20. ↑ Koenigswald, Widga & Göhlich (2021): New mammutids (Proboscidea) from the Clarendonian and Hemphillian of Oregon – a survey of Mio-Pliocene mammutids from North America
  21. ↑ Pickford, M. 2007. New mammutid proboscidean teeth from the middle Miocene of tropical and southern Africa. Palaeontologia Africana 42: 29–35.
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