Gomphotherium

Gomphotherium is an extinct genus of gomphothere proboscidean from the Neogene of Eurasia, Africa and North America. It is the most diverse genus of gomphothere, with over a dozen valid species. The genus is probably paraphyletic, and ancestral to other gomphothere genera, as well as ultimately living elephantids.

Gomphotherium

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
Sits inside
GomphotheriidaePBDB
Diet
browserPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 22 million years on record.

The record covers at least 23.04 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Eocene — about 0 of 269 occurrencesOligocene — about 2 of 269 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 255 of 269 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 6 of 269 occurrencesPleistocene — about 5 of 269 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 4 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 3 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 8 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 10 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 10 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 19 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 34 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 34 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 28 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 31 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 23 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 20 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 10 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 9 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 9 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 7 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.3–1.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences23.04 Mya129 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

269 occurrences of Gomphotherium 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

269 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

58 formations

Valentine — 42.49°N, 98.11°WValentine — 42.80°N, 100.80°WValentine — 42.80°N, 99.70°WValentine — 42.70°N, 100.00°WValentine — 42.81°N, 100.05°WValentine — 40.02°N, 98.53°WValentine — 42.78°N, 100.03°WValentine — 42.90°N, 98.80°WValentine — 42.60°N, 98.00°WMR Caliente — 34.30°N, 119.00°WCalvert — 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°WAsh Hollow — 42.80°N, 100.80°WAsh Hollow — 42.70°N, 100.00°WAsh Hollow — 43.40°N, 100.60°WNS Caliente — 34.30°N, 119.00°WFleming — 31.10°N, 93.10°WFleming — 30.70°N, 94.70°WFleming — 30.50°N, 95.00°WFleming — 30.30°N, 95.70°WFleming — 30.61°N, 95.15°WChoptank — 38.16°N, 76.83°WChoptank — 38.97°N, 75.80°WChoptank — 38.42°N, 76.43°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.40°N, 82.60°WHsienshuiko — 36.34°N, 102.82°EHsienshuiko — 36.52°N, 101.67°EGoliad — 28.60°N, 97.70°WGoliad — 28.34°N, 97.96°WGoliad — 28.53°N, 97.74°WBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°ESnake Creek — 42.40°N, 103.80°WOgallala — 39.80°N, 99.40°WOgallala — 37.20°N, 99.90°WPeace River — 27.90°N, 81.80°WEl Camarón — 16.55°N, 96.03°WEl Camarón — 16.62°N, 96.05°WBarstow — 35.05°N, 117.07°WBarstow — 34.80°N, 117.00°WDam — 25.98°N, 49.39°EKidong — 41.11°N, 129.36°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°ELothidok — 3.22°N, 35.83°EChhasra — 23.44°N, 70.99°ETunggur — 41.09°N, 110.51°ETunggur — 30.04°N, 114.03°EWood Mountain — 49.20°N, 106.20°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Gomphotherium has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 34 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 129 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Gomphotherium and its relatives

Miocene

Where Gomphotherium and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,352 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 246 sites for Gomphotherium, 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

135 references

Each of the 269 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. 123 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 content3

Picture of Gomphotherium

Credit
Ryan Schwark
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Gomphotherium gomphotherium · UF:VP:19420

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

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 itGomphotheriidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Burmeister 1837