Gomphotherium (/ˌɡɒmfəˈθɪəriəm/; "nail beast" for its double set of straight tusks) is an extinct genus of gomphothere proboscidean from the Neogene of Eurasia, Africa and North America.[1][2] It is the most diverse genus of gompothere, with over a dozen valid species. The genus is probably paraphyletic.[3][4]
| Gomphotherium Temporal range:
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| Specimen of Gomphotherium productum at the American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | †Gomphotheriidae |
| Genus: | †Gomphotherium Burmeister, 1837 |
| Type species | |
| Gomphotherium angustidens (Cuvier, 1817)
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| Species | |
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See text | |
| Synonyms | |
Description
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Most species of Gomphotherium were similar in size to the Asian elephant, with G. productum (known from a 35-year-old male) measuring 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in) tall and weighing 4.6 t (4.5 long tons; 5.1 short tons). The largest species G. steinheimense, known from a complete 37-year-old male found in Mühldorf, Germany, measured up to 3.17 m (10.4 ft) tall and weighed 6.7 t (6.6 long tons; 7.4 short tons).[5]
Gomphotherium, like most basal elephantimorphs, had an elongated lower jaw which bore tusks.[6] Species of Gomphotherium are defined by their conservative molar morphology, which includes "trilophed intermediate molars, third molars with three to four loph(id)s, and pretrite half-loph(id)s typically with anterior and posterior accessory conules that form trefoil-patterned enamel loops with wear (simple molar crowns with no accessory conules on the posttrite side of the crown)".[7]
Ecology
editMost species of Gomphotherium are inferred to have been browsers or mixed feeders, but specimens of G. steinheimense from China are suggested to have been grazers.[3] Oxygen and carbon isotopes from G. productum enamel unearthed in the Port of Entry Pit, Oklahoma reveal it fed predominantly on C3 plants year-round.[8]
Evolution
editGomphotherium likely originated in Africa during the late Oligocene-early Miocene. The oldest remains of Gomphotherium are known from Africa, dating to approximately 19.5 million years ago.[9] Gomphotherium migrated into Eurasia across the "Gomphotherium land bridge" approximately 19 million years ago.[10] Gomphotherium underwent rapid evolution after its arrival in Eurasia, reaching its peak diversity during the Early-Middle Miocene.[10] Gomphotherium has been posited to be paraphyletic and the ancestor of later gomphothere genera, including the "tetralophodont gomphotheres" such as Tetralophodon which are probably ancestral to stegodontids and elephantids.[3] Gomphotherium first arrived in North America during the mid-Miocene, approximately 16-15 million years ago,[11] and is suggested to be ancestral to later New World gomphothere genera, such as Cuvieronius, Stegomastodon and Rhynchotherium.[12] Asian populations of Gomphotherium are suggested to have been ancestral to Sinomastodon.[13] The last European species of Gomphotherium became extinct at the beginning of the Late Miocene, around the start of MN9, approximately 10 million years ago.[13] The last Gomphotherium species disappeared from North America at the beginning of the Pliocene, approximately 5 million years ago.[11]
Taxonomy
editSpecies
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Over a dozen species of Gomphotherium are considered valid, with over 30 junior synonyms proposed for these taxa.[14]
- G. hannibali Welcomme, 1994 Europe, Early Miocene
- G. annectens (Matsumoto, 1925) Japan, Early Miocene
- G. cooperi (Osborn, 1932) Asia, Early Miocene
- G. sylvaticum Tassy, 1985 Europe, Early Miocene
- G. libycum (Fourtau, 1918) Egypt, Early Miocene
- G. inopinatum (Borissiak and Belyaeva, 1928) China, late Early Miocene-Early middle Miocene
- G. mongoliense (Osborn, 1924) Mongolia, late Early Miocene-Early middle Miocene
- G. angustidens (Cuvier, 1817) (type) Europe, Middle Miocene
- G. subtapiroideum (Schlesinger, 1917) Europe, Early-Middle Miocene
- G. tassyi Wang, Li, Duangkrayom, Yang, He & Chen, 2017 China, Middle Miocene
- G. browni (Osborn, 1926) Pakistan, Middle Miocene
- G. steinheimense (Klahn, 1922) Europe, China, Middle-Late Miocene
- G. productum (Cope, 1874) North America, Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene
- G. pyrenaicum (Lartet, 1859) Europe, Middle Miocene[15]
Phylogeny after Wang et al., 2017[14]
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Outgroups "G. annectens group" "G. angustidens group" "Derived Gomphotherium" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cladogram of Elephantiformes after Li et al. 2023, showing a paraphyletic Gomphotheriidae and Gomphotherium.[16]
| Elephantiformes |
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Gomphotherium angustidens -
Gomphotherium productum -
G. angustidens by Charles R. Knight -
G. angustidens skeleton -
References
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- ^ Wang, Wei; Liao, Wei; Li, Dawei; Tian, Feng (1 July 2014). "Early Pleistocene large-mammal fauna associated with Gigantopithecus at Mohui Cave, Bubing Basin, South China". Quaternary International. 354: 122–130. Bibcode:2014QuInt.354..122W. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.036. ISSN 1040-6182.
- ^ Palmer, T. S.; Merriam, C. H. (1904). Index generum mammalium: a list of the genera and families of mammals. Government Printing Office, Washington.
- ^ a b c Wu, Yan; Deng, Tao; Hu, Yaowu; Ma, Jiao; Zhou, Xinying; Mao, Limi; Zhang, Hanwen; Ye, Jie; Wang, Shi-Qi (16 May 2018). "A grazing Gomphotherium in Middle Miocene Central Asia, 10 million years prior to the origin of the Elephantidae". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 7640. Bibcode:2018NatSR...8.7640W. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-25909-4. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5956065. PMID 29769581.
- ^ Baleka, Sina; Varela, Luciano; Tambusso, P. Sebastián; Paijmans, Johanna L.A.; Mothé, Dimila; Stafford, Thomas W.; Fariña, Richard A.; Hofreiter, Michael (January 2022). "Revisiting proboscidean phylogeny and evolution through total evidence and palaeogenetic analyses including Notiomastodon ancient DNA". iScience. 25 (1): 103559. Bibcode:2022iSci...25j3559B. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103559. PMC 8693454. PMID 34988402.
- ^ Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014. S2CID 2092950.
- ^ Mothé, Dimila; Ferretti, Marco P.; Avilla, Leonardo S. (12 January 2016). 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.
- ^ Sanders, William J. (7 July 2023). Evolution and Fossil Record of African Proboscidea (1 ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 94. doi:10.1201/b20016. ISBN 978-1-315-11891-8.
- ^ Fox, David L.; Fisher, Daniel C. (1 June 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. Bibcode:2001Palai..16..279F. doi:10.1669/0883-1351(2001)016<0279:SIEOAL>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0883-1351. Retrieved 2 July 2024 – via BioOne.
- ^ Wang, Shi-Qi; Li, Yu; Duangkrayom, Jaroon; Yang, Xiang-Wen; He, Wen; Chen, Shan-Qin (4 May 2017). "A new species of Gomphotherium (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from China and the evolution of Gomphotherium in Eurasia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (3): e1318284. Bibcode:2017JVPal..37E8284W. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1318284. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 90593535.
- ^ a b Li, Chunxiao; Wang, Shi-Qi; Yang, Qing (26 May 2022). "Discovery of a primitive Gomphotherium from the Early Miocene of northern China and its biochronology and palaeobiogeography significance". Historical Biology: 1–9. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2077106. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 249145789.
- ^ a b MacFadden, Bruce J.; Morgan, Gary S.; Jones, Douglas S.; Rincon, Aldo F. (March 2015). "Gomphothere proboscidean ( Gomphotherium ) from the late Neogene of Panama". Journal of Paleontology. 89 (2): 360–365. Bibcode:2015JPal...89..360M. doi:10.1017/jpa.2014.31. ISSN 0022-3360. S2CID 52093950.
- ^ Spencer LG 2022. The last North American gomphotheres. N Mex Mus Nat Hist Sci. 88:45–58.
- ^ a b Wang, Shi-Qi; Ji, Xue-Ping; Jablonski, Nina G.; Su, Denise F.; Ge, Jun-Yi; Ding, Chang-Fen; Yu, Teng-Song; Li, Wen-Qi; Duangkrayom, Jaroon (June 2016). "The Oldest Cranium of Sinomastodon (Proboscidea, Gomphotheriidae), Discovered in the Uppermost Miocene of Southwestern China: Implications for the Origin and Migration of This Taxon". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 23 (2): 155–173. doi:10.1007/s10914-015-9311-z. ISSN 1064-7554. S2CID 254702519.
- ^ a b Wang, Shi-Qi; Li, Yu; Duangkrayom, Jaroon; Yang, Xiang-Wen; He, Wen; Chen, Shan-Qin (4 May 2017). "A new species of Gomphotherium (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from China and the evolution of Gomphotherium in Eurasia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (3): e1318284. Bibcode:2017JVPal..37E8284W. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1318284. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 90593535.
- ^ Göhlich, Ursula B. (2010). "The Proboscidea (Mammalia) from the Miocene of Sandelzhausen (southern Germany)". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 84 (1): 163–204. Bibcode:2010PalZ...84..163G. doi:10.1007/s12542-010-0053-1.
- ^ Li, Chunxiao; Deng, Tao; Wang, Yang; Sun, Fajun; Wolff, Burt; Jiangzuo, Qigao; Ma, Jiao; Xing, Luda; Fu, Jiao (28 November 2023), "Longer mandible or nose? Co-evolution of feeding organs in early elephantiforms", eLife, 12, doi:10.7554/eLife.90908.1, retrieved 29 May 2024
