Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
244 / Cenozoic
Gomphotherium
Gomphotherium angustidens
Two upper and two lower tusks gave its elongated head a four-tusked profile absent from living elephants.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 19–11 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Miocene
- Geographic range
- River-valley woodland · Europe, Asia and Africa
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Gomphotherium?
Gomphotherium (Gomphotherium angustidens) was an extinct organism known from About 19–11 million years ago, with a range in River-valley woodland · Europe, Asia and Africa.
Life and ecology
Gomphotherium gathered plants with a trunk and processed browse with low-crowned molars. It dispersed widely across continents during the Miocene.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Gomphotherium disappear?
Drying climates, expanding grasslands and competition among proboscideans are proposed context for its replacement by more specialized forms; the relative roles are not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Gomphotherium?
Skulls, tusks, molars and skeletons across three continents document distribution and regionally flexible diets.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS