The Two Species of Elephants
Delgrosso 1
Biology and Society
12/02/13
In the present day there exists two species of elephants. These two species have many relatives that have come before them and died out. Several of these species are Paleomastodon, Deinotherium, Gompotherium, Primelephas which is a direct ancestor to the modern day elephant, Stegadon, American mastodon, and wooly mammoth. All of these species are considered Proboscidea which are mammals that have trunks “proboscidea encompasses the trunked mammals” (J.D. Illiger). Within the probosciedea family there consists the elpephantidea, which elephants would be considered. There are many different types of elephants due to where the species was located and the types of plants in which they ate. The earliest common ancestor of all elephants was the Paleomastodon which originated in Africa about 36-35 million years ago. It was a small mammal that had a trunk and it evolved into the many different species of elephant. One of the first species that adapted from the Paleomastadon was the Deinotherium which lived in Africa and had tusks that pointed downward which helped it scarpe of bark from a tree. It also had a small brain which scientist believe is responsible for its extinction due to lack of intelligence compared to other species. Gomphotherium is another species of elephant that lived in the Americas, Europe,
Delgrosso 2 and Asia and originated about 13 million years ago. It lived in swampy lake areas and marshes. This species had long tusks and a short trunked which was adapted to help it dig through mud to find aquatic vegetation. Stegadon which was the largest of all the species of elephants grew to its size to due to abundance of food that it would find in the parts of asia in which it lived. Most of them died out hundreds of thousands of years ago except for a subspecies that lives in Indonesia on an island of flores. This subspecies was smaller than the other species since it was secluded on an island and
Biology and Society
12/02/13
In the present day there exists two species of elephants. These two species have many relatives that have come before them and died out. Several of these species are Paleomastodon, Deinotherium, Gompotherium, Primelephas which is a direct ancestor to the modern day elephant, Stegadon, American mastodon, and wooly mammoth. All of these species are considered Proboscidea which are mammals that have trunks “proboscidea encompasses the trunked mammals” (J.D. Illiger). Within the probosciedea family there consists the elpephantidea, which elephants would be considered. There are many different types of elephants due to where the species was located and the types of plants in which they ate. The earliest common ancestor of all elephants was the Paleomastodon which originated in Africa about 36-35 million years ago. It was a small mammal that had a trunk and it evolved into the many different species of elephant. One of the first species that adapted from the Paleomastadon was the Deinotherium which lived in Africa and had tusks that pointed downward which helped it scarpe of bark from a tree. It also had a small brain which scientist believe is responsible for its extinction due to lack of intelligence compared to other species. Gomphotherium is another species of elephant that lived in the Americas, Europe,
Delgrosso 2 and Asia and originated about 13 million years ago. It lived in swampy lake areas and marshes. This species had long tusks and a short trunked which was adapted to help it dig through mud to find aquatic vegetation. Stegadon which was the largest of all the species of elephants grew to its size to due to abundance of food that it would find in the parts of asia in which it lived. Most of them died out hundreds of thousands of years ago except for a subspecies that lives in Indonesia on an island of flores. This subspecies was smaller than the other species since it was secluded on an island and
Cited: “Elephants”.En.wikepdia.org. 29 November 2013. 1 December 2013 “Genus of Elephants”. Th07deviantart.net. 3 March 2008. 1 December 2013 “Wooly Mammoth”. Animalwildlife.org. 23 April 2011. 1 December 2013