Gomphotheriidae

Gomphotheres are an extinct group of proboscideans related to modern elephants. First appearing in Africa during the Oligocene, they dispersed into Eurasia and North America during the Miocene and arrived in South America during the Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange. Gomphotheres are a paraphyletic group ancestral to Elephantidae, which contains modern elephants, as well as Stegodontidae.

Gomphotheriidae

Ryan Schwark · CC0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
gomphotherePBDB
Sits inside
ProboscideaPBDB
Diet
browserPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 23 million years on record.

The record covers at least 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 1333 occurrencesOligocene — about 2 of 1333 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 571 of 1333 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 211 of 1333 occurrencesPleistocene — about 543 of 1333 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 7 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 6 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 13 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 15 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 15 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 27 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 50 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 51 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 54 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 63 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 57 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 56 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 46 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 46 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 48 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 63 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 89 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 112 occurrences2.3–1.2 Mya — about 154 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 359 occurrences23.04 Mya11.7 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

1,333 occurrences of Gomphotheriidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,333 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

209 formations

Valentine — 42.70°N, 100.00°WValentine — 42.49°N, 98.11°WValentine — 42.80°N, 100.80°WValentine — 42.80°N, 99.70°WValentine — 42.81°N, 100.05°WValentine — 40.02°N, 98.53°WValentine — 42.78°N, 100.03°WValentine — 40.10°N, 98.50°WValentine — 42.90°N, 98.80°WValentine — 43.20°N, 99.80°WValentine — 42.60°N, 98.00°WAsh Hollow — 42.80°N, 100.80°WAsh Hollow — 42.39°N, 98.10°WAsh Hollow — 40.50°N, 100.50°WAsh Hollow — 42.60°N, 98.00°WAsh Hollow — 42.70°N, 100.00°WAsh Hollow — 41.70°N, 103.10°WAsh Hollow — 41.30°N, 101.89°WAsh Hollow — 41.20°N, 101.80°WAsh Hollow — 43.40°N, 100.60°WAsh Hollow — 41.40°N, 102.40°WAsh Hollow — 42.30°N, 98.00°WAsh Hollow — 42.80°N, 99.70°WMR Caliente — 34.30°N, 119.00°WBlanco — 33.70°N, 101.10°WBlanco — 33.81°N, 101.21°WBlanco — 33.78°N, 101.29°WBlanco — 28.53°N, 97.74°WSolimões — 9.86°S, 71.41°WSolimões — 9.85°S, 71.36°WSolimões — 8.82°S, 72.82°WSolimões — 8.88°S, 72.78°WSolimões — 8.98°S, 72.72°WSolimões — 9.41°S, 72.72°WSolimões — 7.85°S, 72.67°WSolimões — 9.17°S, 69.84°WAdu-Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°EAdu-Asa — 10.37°N, 40.23°EAdu-Asa — 10.43°N, 40.42°EVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°ECalvert — 38.40°N, 76.50°WCalvert — 38.50°N, 76.51°WCalvert — 38.77°N, 76.66°WCalvert — 38.89°N, 76.10°WCalvert — 38.67°N, 76.53°WSt. David — 32.00°N, 110.20°WSt. David — 31.97°N, 110.30°WSagantole — 10.62°N, 40.58°ESagantole — 10.63°N, 40.54°ESagantole — 10.47°N, 40.50°ESagantole — 10.45°N, 40.45°EOgallala — 39.80°N, 99.40°WOgallala — 37.20°N, 99.90°WOgallala — 35.77°N, 99.84°WOgallala — 35.76°N, 99.65°WOgallala — 35.51°N, 99.74°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WAlachua — 29.40°N, 82.60°WAlachua — 29.10°N, 82.30°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.08°N, 100.67°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.20°N, 100.70°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.10°N, 100.80°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.03°N, 100.75°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.00°N, 100.70°WWood Mountain — 49.17°N, 105.99°WWood Mountain — 49.20°N, 106.20°WNS Caliente — 34.30°N, 119.00°WWembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.72°EWembere-Manonga — 3.92°S, 33.82°EWembere-Manonga — 3.93°S, 33.87°EWembere-Manonga — 4.03°S, 33.78°EWembere-Manonga — 3.09°S, 33.73°EManchar — 26.33°N, 67.83°EPeace River — 27.90°N, 81.80°WPeace River — 27.00°N, 82.20°WPeace River — 27.50°N, 82.50°WPeace River — 27.68°N, 81.95°WGila Conglomerate — 32.84°N, 110.00°WGila Conglomerate — 32.70°N, 109.10°WGila Conglomerate — 32.70°N, 109.00°WLujan — 34.60°S, 59.15°WLujan — 34.64°S, 59.30°WLujan — 36.78°S, 59.87°WZanda — 31.48°N, 79.80°EChoptank — 38.16°N, 76.83°WChoptank — 38.97°N, 75.80°WChoptank — 38.42°N, 76.43°WSnake Creek — 42.40°N, 103.80°WGoliad — 28.60°N, 97.70°WGoliad — 28.34°N, 97.96°WGoliad — 28.53°N, 97.74°W

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The named rock units Gomphotheriidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 185 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 796 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Gomphotheriidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Gomphotheriidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,149 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 1,141 sites for Gomphotheriidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

527 references

Each of the 1,333 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 515 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Gomphotheriidae

Credit
Ryan Schwark
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Gomphotheriidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itProboscidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Hay 1922