Elephantimorpha

<p>Elephantimorpha is a <a href="/facts/Clade/XefyYmWn">clade</a> of <a href="/facts/Proboscideans/Dzk4qsH0">proboscideans</a> that contains the <a href="/facts/Mammutidae/SSjEwXNq">Mammutidae</a> (mastodons), as well as Elephantida (<a href="/facts/Amebelodontidae/oIEPL8NF">amebelodonts</a>, <a href="/facts/Choerolophodontidae/BexlnWHV">choerolophodonts</a>, <a href="/facts/Gomphotheres/kqjTTu6m">gomphotheres</a>, <a href="/facts/Stegodontids/Ibbtdd5U">stegodontids</a> and <a href="/facts/Elephantidae/pE2dqhAB">elephantids</a>). All members of this group have the horizontal tooth replacement typical of modern elephants, unlike more primitive members of the <a href="/facts/Elephantiformes/wyhvr4Kv">Elephantiformes</a>. Like modern elephants, the ancestor of Elephantimorpha was likely capable of communicating via <a href="/facts/Infrasonic/yCUJSSe3">infrasonic</a> calls. While early elephantimorphs generally had lower jaws with an elongated <a href="/facts/Mandibular_symphysis/Ia0g0hwn">mandibular symphysis</a> at the front of the jaw with well developed lower tusks/incisors, from the Late Miocene onwards, many groups convergently developed brevirostrine (shortened) lower jaws with vestigial or no lower tusks, probably corresponding with the elongation and increasingly dexterity of the trunk allowing it to be used as the primary feeding organ.
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Elephantimorpha open-in-new

Elephantimorpha