Elephantimorpha is a clade of proboscideans that contains the Mammutidae (mastodons), as well as Elephantida (amebelodonts, choerolophodonts, gomphotheres, stegodontids and elephantids). All members of this group have the horizontal tooth replacement typical of modern elephants, unlike more primitive members of the Elephantiformes.[1] Like modern elephants, the ancestor of Elephantimorpha was likely capable of communicating via infrasonic calls.[2] While early elephantimorphs generally had lower jaws with an elongated mandibular symphysis at the front of the jaw with well developed lower tusks/incisors, from the Late Miocene onwards, many groups convergently developed brevirostrine (shortened) lower jaws with vestigial or no lower tusks,[3][4] probably corresponding with the elongation and increasingly dexterity of the trunk allowing it to be used as the primary feeding organ.[4]
| Elephantimorphs Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Skeleton of the mammoth Mammuthus meridionalis (Elephantoidea, Elephantidae) | |
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| Skeleton of the "shovel tusker" Platybelodon (Amebelodontidae) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Suborder: | Elephantiformes |
| Clade: | Elephantimorpha Tassy & Shoshani, 1997 |
| Subgroups | |
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Taxonomy
editCladogram of Elephantiformes after Li et al. 2023, showing a paraphyletic Gomphotheriidae.[4]
| Elephantimorpha |
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References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ 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 2024-04-19
- ^ Mothé, Dimila; Ferretti, Marco P.; Avilla, Leonardo S. (12 January 2016). "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. PMC 4710528. PMID 26756209.
- ^ a b c Li, Chunxiao; Deng, Tao; Wang, Yang; Sun, Fajun; Wolff, Burt; Jiangzuo, Qigao; Ma, Jiao; Xing, Luda; Fu, Jiao (2023-11-28), "Longer mandible or nose? Co-evolution of feeding organs in early elephantiforms", eLife, 12, doi:10.7554/eLife.90908.1, retrieved 2024-05-29
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