Mammutidae

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Mammutidae
Temporal range: Late Oligocene - Holocene 27.5–0.011  Ma
Mammut skeleton Museum of the Earth.jpg
Mounted American mastodon (Mammut americanum) skeleton, Museum of the Earth
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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 (around 8 million years ago) until their extinction at the 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 Ancient Greek μαστός (mastós), meaning "nipple", and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "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] with the legs being proportionally shorter than living elephants, while their bodies were proportionally more elongate. [7] Early members of the group like Eozygodon and Zygolophodon had elongate mandibular symphysis (the front-most part) of the lower jaws with lower incisors/tusks (which tend to be flattened and narrow in shape [7] ), 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. [8] [9] Mammutids are thought to have had prehensile trunks like those of living elephants, with those of Mammut suggested to have been possibly long enough to reach the ground. [7] The upper tusks in primitive mammutids are relatively small as well as being downward (ventrally) and outward (laterally) curving, while those of mastodons (Mammut) are large and upward curving, often reaching around 3 metres (9.8 ft) in length. [7] 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, [10] with the tusks of this species being the longest known of any animal, reaching over 5 metres (16 ft) in length. [11] The encephalization quotient of mammutids is lower than those of modern elephants, indicating mammutids had proportionally smaller brains relative to body size, though their brains are proportionally larger than those of more primitive non-elephantimorph proboscideans. [12]

Gallery of Mammutidae

Ecology

Members of Mammutidae are thought to have been primarily browsers on the foliage and twigs of trees and shrubs. [13] [14] [15] The jaws of mammutids are adapted to powerful vertical biting (orthal movement) that served to crush food items and to a considerably lesser extent grind it with side-to side movement. [7] 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, [16] [17] with adult males periodically engaging in musth-like fighting behaviour against other males. [16] Like other elephantimorphs and modern elephants, mammutids are thought to have utilized infrasonic sound for communication, with the morphology of their hyoid bones and inner ear suggesting that they were both capable of hearing and producing infrasonic calls. [12]

Evolution

Mammutids are the most basal group within Elephantimorpha, with gomphotheres and other members of Elephantida like amebelodonts being more closely related to elephants. [18] [19] Cladogram after Li et al. (2024). [20]

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. [21] 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, [22] 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. [23] 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]

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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-15. 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. 1 2 3 4 5 Nabavizadeh, Ali (2024-10-08). "Of tusks and trunks: A review of craniofacial evolutionary anatomy in elephants and extinct Proboscidea" . The Anatomical Record. doi:10.1002/ar.25578. ISSN   1932-8486.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi: 10.4202/app.00136.2014 .
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. 1 2 Benoit, Julien; Lyras, George A.; Schmitt, Arnaud; Nxumalo, Mpilo; Tabuce, Rodolphe; Obada, Teodor; Mararsecul, Vladislav; Manger, Paul (2023), Dozo, María Teresa; Paulina-Carabajal, Ariana; Macrini, Thomas E.; Walsh, Stig (eds.), "Paleoneurology of the Proboscidea (Mammalia, Afrotheria): Insights from Their Brain Endocast and Labyrinth", Paleoneurology of Amniotes, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 579–644, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-13983-3_15, ISBN   978-3-031-13982-6 , retrieved 2025-06-16
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. 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.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ Koenigswald, Widga & Göhlich (2021): New mammutids (Proboscidea) from the Clarendonian and Hemphillian of Oregon – a survey of Mio-Pliocene mammutids from North America
  23. ↑ 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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