Loxodonta exoptata

Loxodonta exoptata is an extinct species of elephant in the genus Loxodonta, from Africa. A 2009 study suggested that Loxodonta exoptata gave rise to L. atlantica, which gave rise to L. africana. The molars of L. exoptata are distinguished from later loxodonts by the lower plate number and their specialized enamel loops. Fossil remains of L. exoptata have been found at Pliocene sites in eastern Africa including Hadar, Laetoli and Koobi Fora.

Loxodonta exoptata

Muhammad Mahdi Karim Facebook The making of this document was supported by Wikimedia CH . ( Submit your project! ) Fo… · GFDL 1.2 · 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
Sits inside
LoxodontaPBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB, for Elephantidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Elephantidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 1 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Miocene — about 0 of 48 occurrencesPliocene — about 42 of 48 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 6 of 48 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 48 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence5.1–4.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.9–4.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.7–4.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.5–4.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.3–4.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.1–3.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.9–3.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.7–3.5 Mya — about 4 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 6 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 6 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.3–2.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.1–1.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.9–1.8 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.6 Mya2.58 Mya5.8 Mya0 Mya

48 occurrences of Loxodonta exoptata on record, most of them in the Pliocene. 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

48 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

11 formations

Vogel River Series — 3.23°S, 35.23°EVogel River Series — 3.26°S, 35.18°EVogel River Series — 3.01°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.36°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.34°EWembere-Manonga — 3.87°S, 33.72°EWembere-Manonga — 4.02°S, 33.83°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.58°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°ENachukui — 3.90°N, 35.71°EChiwondo — 9.83°S, 34.83°EChiwondo — 10.33°S, 34.17°EWarwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°EChemeron — 0.67°N, 35.83°EShungura — 5.05°N, 36.04°EMatabaietu — 10.55°N, 40.58°EKanapoi — 2.32°N, 36.07°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Loxodonta exoptata has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Loxodonta exoptata and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Loxodonta exoptata and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

299 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 48 sites for Loxodonta exoptata, and this reads all 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

14 references

Each of the 48 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. 2 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 Loxodonta exoptata

Credit
Muhammad Mahdi Karim Facebook The making of this document was supported by Wikimedia CH . ( Submit your project! ) Fo…
Licence
GFDL 1.2
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

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 itLoxodonta through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Dietrich 1941