Cuvieronius
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| Cuvieronius Fossil range: Pliocene to holocene |
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 Skull of Cuvieronius hyodon
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris |
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Cuvieronius is an extinct New World genus of Gomphothere.
Cuvieronius named after the French naturalist Georges Cuvier, stood 2.7m (9 ft) tall and looked like a modern elephant except for its spiral-shaped tusks. The creature initially evolved in North America, but was also one of the few proboscid mammals to colonize South America during the Great American Interchange, reaching there around 2 million years ago and traveling as far south as Argentina. It survived until approximatly 11,000 B.P. in South America, having gone extinct in North America some time earlier.
[edit] External links
- American Museum of Natural History Includes images.
[edit] References
- Graham RW (2001) Late Quaternary Biogeography and Extinction of Proboscideans in North America . The World of Elephants (La Terra degli Elephanti), Proceedings of the 1st International Congress (Atti del 1� Congrsso Internazionale, A cura di: G. Cavarretta, P Giola, M. Mussi, M. R. Palombo), G. Cavarretta, P Giola, M. Mussi, M. R. Palombo (Eds.), Roma 16-20 October, 707-709
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