Proboscidea

For the plant genus, see Proboscidea (plant).

Proboscidea Temporal range: Paleocene – Recent, 60.0–0Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
African bush elephant, Loxodonta africana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Paenungulata
Order:	Proboscidea Illiger, 1811
Families
Elephantidae †Gomphotheriidae †Mammutidae †Stegodontidae †Barytheriidae †Deinotheriidae †Moeritheriidae †Numidotheriidae †Palaeomastodontidae †Phiomiidae

The Proboscidea (from the Latin proboscis) are a taxonomic order containing one living family, Elephantidae, and several extinct families. This order, first described by J. Illiger in 1811, encompasses the trunked mammals. Later proboscideans are distinguished by tusks and long, muscular trunks; these features are less developed or absent in early proboscideans.

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

Woolly mammoth and American mastodon

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.

The classification of proboscideans is unstable and frequently revised, and some relationships within the order remain unclear. As of 2005, at least 177 species and subspecies of proboscideans, classified in 43 genera, are recognized; the order is summarized as:

Proboscidea

incertae sedis †Moeritheriidae

†Moeritherium

†Plesielephantiformes

†Numidotheriidae

†Phosphatherium

†Daouitherium

†Numidotherium

†Barytheriidae

†Barytherium

†Deinotheriidae

†Chilgatherium

†Prodeinotherium

†Deinotherium

Elephantiformes

incertae sedis †Hemimastodon

†Palaeomastodontidae

†Palaeomastodon

†Phiomiidae

†Phiomia

Elephantimorpha

incertae sedis †Eritreum

†Mammutida (mastodons)

†Mammutoidea

†Mammutidae

†Eozygodontinae

†Eozygodon

†Mammutinae

†Zygolophodon

†Mammut

Elephantida

†Gomphotherioidea

†Gomphotheriidae (gomphotheres)

incertae sedis †Gnathabelodon

incertae sedis †Progomphotherium

incertae sedis †Afromastodon

†Choerolophodontinae

†Choerolophodon

†Gomphotheriinae

†Gomphotherium

†Amebelodontinae

†Archaeobelodon

†Serbelodon

†Protanancus

†Amebelodon

†Platybelodon

incertae sedis †Sinomastodon

incertae sedis †Eubelodon

†Rhynchotheriinae

†Rhynchotherium

†Cuvieroniinae

†Cuvieronius

†Stegomastodon

†Haplomastodon

†Notiomastodon

Elephantoidea

incertae sedis †Tetralophodon

incertae sedis †Morrillia

incertae sedis †Anancus

incertae sedis †Paratetralophodon

†Stegodontidae

†Stegolophodon

†Stegodon

Elephantidae

†Stegotetrabelodontinae

†Stegotetrabelodon

†Stegodibelodon

Elephantinae (elephants and mammoths)

†Primelephas

Loxodontini

Loxodonta

Elephantini

†Palaeoloxodon

Elephas

†Mammuthus