
Gomphotherium
Gomphotherium productum
Resurrected on:
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Genus information
Gomphotherium is an extinct relative of the modern elephant and lived during the Miocene and Pliocene epoch in North America, Eurasia and Africa. It resembled a modern-day elephant in appearance, but it had two longer tusks in its upper jaw and two small tusks in its elongated lower jaw. The lower tusks are shaped like a shovel and were probably used for digging up food from the ground. Also, its skull was more elongated and closer to the ground compared to elephants, fitting this feeding behaviour. Gomphotherium probably lived in swamps and wooded regions near lakes and rivers.
Family:
Distribution:
Epoch:
Gomphotheriidae
North America, Eurasia and Africa
Miocene to Pleistocene
Species information
The Gomphotherium-genus consists of over 20 species and were found across the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. G. productum lived during the Miocene epoch of North America and fossils have been found in the USA. The species is known from a 35-year-old male specimen with a very short tail, which would indicate it lived in a colder climate. G. productum was a large gomphothere and stood about 2.5 meters high at the shoulders.
Species:
Paleontologist:
Distribution:
Epoch:
Gomphotherium productum
Cope, 1874
North America
Miocene
Length:
Height:
Weight:
4.2 m
2.5 m
4.600 kg
Reference:
Fox, D. L., & Fisher, D. C. (2001). Stable isotope ecology of a late Miocene population of Gomphotherium productus (Mammalia, Proboscidea) from Port of Entry Pit, Oklahoma, USA. Palaios, 16(3), 279-293.

Size comparison

Distribution map
