Gomphothere Tooth Replica

$58.00

Gomphothere or Gomphotheriidae differed from elephants in their tooth structure, particularly the chewing surfaces on the molar teeth.

Description

Gomphothere Tooth Replica measures 7.0 inches. Gomphothere Tooth Replica is museum quality polyurethane resin cast. Made in USA. Our precise tooth can be used as a teaching tool, museum tooth exhibit, home décor  or office décor.

Gomphothere or Gomphotheriidae are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were superficially elephant-like proboscideans.

They were widespread in North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, 12 to 1.6 million years ago. Gomphotheriidae lived in parts of Eurasia, Beringia, and following the Great American Interchange, South America.

Beginning about 5 million years ago, they were gradually replaced by modern elephants, apart from the last two South American genera, of which Gomphotheres or Gomphotheriidae did not become extinct until possibly as recently as 9,100 BP.

Gomphothere or Gomphotheriidae differed from elephants in their tooth structure, particularly the chewing surfaces on the molar teeth. The earlier species had four tusks, and their retracted facial and nasal bones prompted paleontologists to believe that gomphotheres had elephant-like trunks.

Gomphothere or Gomphotheriidae had the presence of coarse and hyper coarse scratches along with gouges and large pits suggests the ingestion of foliage and lignified portions. The plant microfossil analysis recovered fragments of conifer tracheid and vessel elements with a ray of parenchyma cells, which corroborates the consumption of wood plants, pollen grains, spores, and fibers by the Gomphotheriidae.

The results confirm that ancient diets cannot always be interpreted solely from dental morphology or extrapolated from present relatives. The data from Middle and Late Pleistocene periods indicate that over time, there was a shift in dietary patterns away from predominantly mixed feeders to more specialized feeders.

This dietary evolution may have been one of the factors that contributed to the disappearance of South American gomphotheres at the end of the Pleistocene.

Climatic change and human predation have also been discussed as possible causes of the extinction. Gomphothere or Gomphotheriidae remains are common at South American Paleo-Indian sites.

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Additional information

Weight 2.5 lbs
Dimensions 7 × 3 × 3.25 in
Gomphothere Facts

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Superfamily: †Gomphotherioidea
Family: †Gomphotheriidae
Conservation Status: Extinct