Early gomphotheres had lower jaws with an elongate (longitostrine) mandibular symphysis (the fused front-most part of the lower jaw) and lower tusks, the primitive condition for members of Elephantimorpha.

Gomphotheres had 4 tusks; 2 straight ones in the upper jaw and 2 straight ones in the lower jaw. Unlike elephants today, the upper tusks were coated with enamel. Gomphothere teeth had very high ridges, which were ideal for grinding very tough foods, like branches.

Jul 31, 2024 · With four ferocious tusks, you might think that gomphotheres were formidable predators. While they certainly looked the part, these giant ancient elephant-like animals were herbivores and used their tusks for defense and as tools.

The marsh-dwelling gomphotheres, such as Amebelodon and Platybelodon, had shovel-like tusks that extended from a protruding lower jaw and a set of short upper tusks. These flattened teeth appear to have been used to scoop up soft aquatic vegetation and to dig up roots.

Gomphotherium (/ ˌ ɡ ɒ m f ə ˈ θ ɪər i əm /; "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.

Unlike most other proboscideans, early gomphotheres had four tusks, with an additional pair extending out from their elongated lower jaws. Although some later gomphotheres reduced or lost their lower tusks.

May 30, 2023 · Tusks in the platybelodon gomphotheres were flattened and joined, resembling a massive pair of buck teeth, which they used to scrape bark from trees. Gomphotheres can be coarsely identified by their tusks, which have unique shapes, orientations and banding patterns that differ by group.

Gomphotheres differed from elephants in their tooth structure, particularly the chewing surfaces on the molar teeth. Most had four tusks, and their retracted facial and nasal bones prompt paleontologists to believe that gomphotheres had elephant-like trunks.

The Gomphotheres were a varied family of extinct elephant-like animals (proboscidea). [1] The early species had four tusks, and scratches on the teeth suggest they ate rough vegetable matter. They had a wide distribution.

Jul 27, 2019 · The South American gomphotheres are dibelodonts, which means that they only have upper tusks in adult age (Hoffstetter 1950, 1952). The tusks can reach one meter in length, and in some cases, they are almost straight, curved, or displaying a …