Proboscidea

Proboscidea (from the Latin proboscis) is a taxonomic order containing one living family, Elephantidae, and several extinct families. This order was first described by J. Illiger in 1881 and encompasses the trunked mammals.^[1] Later proboscideans are distinguished by tusks and a long muscular trunk; these features are less developed or absent in early proboscideans.

The earliest known proboscidean is Eritherium,^[2] followed by Phosphatherium, a small animal about the size of a fox. These both date from late Paleocene deposits of Morocco.

Proboscideans diversified during the Eocene and early Oligocene. Several primitive families from these epochs have been described, including Numidotheriidae, Moeritheriidae, and Barytheriidae in Africa, and Anthracobunidae from the Indian subcontinent. These were followed by the earliest Deinotheriidae or "hoe tuskers," which thrived during the Miocene and into the early Quaternary. Proboscideans from the Miocene also included Stegolophodon, an early genus of the disputed family Stegodontidae; the diverse family of Gomphotheriidae or "shovel tuskers," such as Platybelodon and Amebelodon; and the Mammutidae, or mastodons.

Most families of Proboscidea are now extinct, many since the end of the last glacial period. Recently extinct species include the last examples of gomphotheres in Central and South America, the American mastodon of family Mammutidae in North America, numerous stegodonts once found in Asia, the last of the mammoths, and several island species of dwarf elephants.^[3]

The classification of proboscideans is unstable and frequently revised, and some relationships within the order remain unclear. The order is incompletely summarized as:^[4]

Elephantimorpha (Proboscidea)

†Anthracobunidae

†Anthracobune

†Hsanotherium

†Indobune

†Ishatherium

†Jozaria

†Lammidhania

†Nakusia

†Pilgrimella

†Moeritheriidae

†Moeritherium

†Numidotheriidae

†Numidotherium

†Barytheriidae

†Barytherium

†Deinotheriidae

†Chilgatherium

†Prodeinotherium

†Deinotherium

†Stegodontidae

†Stegodon

†Stegolophodon

†Mammutida

†Mammutidae (mastodons)

†Mammut

†Zygolophodon

Elephantida

Elephantidae (elephants and mammoths)

†Primelephas

†Mammuthus

†Stegodon

†Stegolophodon

†Stegotetrabelodon

†Stegodibelodon

Loxodonta

Elephas

†Gomphotheriidae (gomphotheres)

†Platybelodon

†Eubelodon

†Cuvieronius

†Gomphotherium

†Haplomastodon

†Morrillia

†Notiomastodon

†Phiomia

†Sinomastodon

†Rhynchotherium

†Serbelodon

†Stegomastodon

†Stegotetrabelodon

†Tetralophodon

incertae sedis

†Eritreum

The last living proboscideans are the elephants, the only extant members of family Elephantidae. They may be summarized as follows:^[5]

Elephantidae

Elephas (Asiatic)

Elephas maximus (Asian Elephant)

Elephas maximus maximus (Sri Lankan Elephant)

Elephas maximus borneensis (Borneo Elephant)

Elephas maximus indicus (Indian Elephant)

Elephas maximus sumatranus (Sumatran Elephant)

Loxodonta (African)

Loxodonta africana (Bush Elephant)

Loxodonta cyclotis (Forest Elephant)

References

1. ^ "Proboscidea". http://www.elephant.se/proboscidea.php. Retrieved 13 September 2011. 
2. ^ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI:10.1073/pnas.0900251106
3. ^ Bjorn Kurten, Elaine Anderson (2005-05-17). Pleistocene mammals of North America - Google Books. Google Book Search. http://books.google.com/books?id=f8pviaxPIKEC&pg=PA343&lpg=PA343&dq=Mammutidae+order. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 
4. ^ Classification of the Elephantidae Paleobiology Database Accessed: August 2009
5. ^ Shoshani, Jeheskel (16 November 2005). "Order Proboscidea (pp. 90-91)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=11500001.