Platybelodon Molar Tooth Replica
$65.00
Wear patterns on the teeth suggest that it used its lower tusks to strip bark from trees, and may have used the sharp incisors that formed the edge of the “shovel”, grasping branches with its trunk and rubbing them against the lower teeth to cut from a tree.
- Description
- Additional information
Description
Platybelodon Molar Tooth Replica measures 7.3 inches. Platybelodon Molar Tooth Replica is museum quality polyurethane resin cast. Made in USA. Platybelodon danov is the scientific name. Our precise tooth can be used as a teaching tool, museum tooth exhibit, home décor tooth or office décor tooth.
Platybelodon (“flat-spear tusk”) or Platybelodon danovi was a genus of large herbivorous mammals related to the elephant (order Proboscidea). It lived during the middle Miocene Epoch in Africa, Asia and the Caucasus.
Platybelodon was very similar to Amebelodon, another closely related gomphothere genus. Due to the shape of the two lower teeth, like many gomphothere genera (such as Platybelodon, Archaeobelodon, Konobelodon, and Amebelodon) they are popularly known as “shovel tuskers”.
Platybelodon or Platybelodon danovi was previously believed to have fed in the swampy areas of grassy savannas, using its teeth to shovel up aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation.
Wear patterns on the teeth suggest that it used its lower tusks to strip bark from trees, and may have used the sharp incisors that formed the edge of the “shovel” more like a modern-day scythe, grasping branches with its trunk and rubbing them against the lower teeth to cut it from a tree.
Adult Platybelodon or Platybelodon danovi animals in particular might have eaten coarser vegetation more frequently than juveniles. Their tusks were probably not used to eat as much as they were used for defense.
The Platybelodon or Platybelodon danovi is a member of the Amebelodontidae family. All of the animals in this family are extinct but included Amebelodon, Archaeobelodon, and Protanancus.
This family was part of the Proboscidea order along with modern-day elephants. These were some of the largest land mammals at the time and remain some of the largest today.
Platybelodons or Platybelodon danovi were a bit smaller in size than most modern elephants. They could be up to 10 feet long and weigh around 2 or 3 tons.
For comparison, an Asian Elephant is around 20 feet long and can weigh up to 4 tons. African Bush Elephants, the largest elephants, can be up to 24 feet long and 7 tons. They are the largest land mammal in existence today.
Platybelodon Facts:
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: †Amebelodontidae
Subfamily: †Platybelodontinae
Genus: †Platybelodon
Borissiak, 1928
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Additional information
Weight | 4 lbs |
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Dimensions | 7.3 in |