| Elephantidae Temporal range: Miocene-Holocene | |
|---|---|
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| Museum mount of Woolly Mammoth | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | Elephantidae |
Elephantidae is a family of proboscidean mammals that lived from the Miocene to modern day. They are known for their large size, among the largest of terrestrial animals, and prehensile trunks. Today, the family is represented with the extant African Bush Elephant, African Forest Elephant, and Asian Elephant; prehistoric examples of elephantids include mammoths and Palaeoloxodon.
Classification[]
Some people have thought that the family should be split in two subfamilies: the Stegotetrabelodontinae, which consists of Stegotetrabelodon and its relatives, and Elephantinae which includes all others. Recent studies have conducted that Mammuthus and Elephas are more closely related to each other, in comparison to Loxodonta and Palaeoloxodon.
Evolutionary History[]
During the Miocene period 8-10 million years ago. The oldest known members of the Elephantidae lived in what is now Northern Africa and Southeast Asia. They were closely related to gomphotheres most notably Tetrabelodon. Early modern relatives of the Elephantidae arrived 5-6 million years ago. Between the Miocene and the Pliocene.
Elephas and Mammuthus migrated out of Africa during the Pliocene about 3 million years ago. Mammoths then arrived in North America about 1.5 million years ago. About 800,000 years ago Palaeoloxodon then dispersed out of Africa. Mammoths lived until the end of the ice age in Europe, Asia and North America. And when the planet began to heat up, they lived in remote areas until as recently as 4000 years ago.