Palaeomastodon

Palaeomastodon
Temporal range: Late Eocene–Early Oligocene
P. beadnelli skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Eutheria
Superorder: Afrotheria
Order: Proboscidea
Family: †Palaeomastodontidae
Genus: †Palaeomastodon
Andrews, 1901
Species
  • P. beadnelli
  • P. minor
  • P. parvus
  • P. wintoni

Palaeomastodon an extinct genus of Proboscidea. Palaeomastodon fossils have been found in Africa, lived some 36-35 million years ago. They are believed to be the ancestors of elephants or mastodons.[1]

Artistic representation by Heinrich Harder
Life reconstruction of Palaeomastodon beadnelli

Palaeomastodon had tusks, both upper and lower, and it had a trunk. It was about 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in) tall at the shoulder and weighed about 2.5 tonnes (2.5 long tons; 2.8 short tons).[2] The lower tusks were flat rather than pointed cones, and were probably used to scoop plants from swampy water.

Artistic representation

Sources

  • Chased By Sea Monsters by Nigel Marven and Jasper James (Pg.128)

Paleomastodon, http://www.elephant.se/palaeomastodon.php?open=Extinct%20Proboscidea

References

  1. ↑ The genus Palaeomastodon Archived 2008-10-17 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014.


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