Sinomastodon

Sinomastodon ("Chinese mastodont") is an extinct gomphothere genus (of order Proboscidea), from the Late Miocene to the Early Pleistocene deposits of Asia (China, Japan, and Indonesia). It is not to be confused with the genus Mammut from a different proboscidean family, whose members are commonly called "mastodons".

Not to be confused with Sinomammut.

Sinomastodon
Temporal range: Late Miocene–Early Pleistocene
Skeletal restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Proboscidea
Family:
†Gomphotheriidae
Genus:
†Sinomastodon

Tobien et al., 1986
Species
  • S. intermedius
    Tobien et al., 1986 (type)
  • S. hanjiangensis
    Tang et Zong, 1987
  • S. sendaicus
    (Matsumoto, 1924)
  • S. bumiajuensis
    (Van der Maarel, 1932)
  • S. praeintermedius
    Wang et al., 2016

The animal was very similar to modern elephants with size ranging from 3.6 to 5.3 m. Several species are known from China, the best known being S. hanjiangensis from the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of the Shanxi province. It is known from an incomplete skeleton of an adult (measuring 5.3 m) including maxilla, mandibles, teeth, tusks and other materials have been discovered. The Japanese species S. sendaicus described in 1924 from dentary materials from Pliocene deposits has been ascribed to the genus, as well as the species S. bumiajuensis (formerly Tetralophodon) from the late Pliocene of Java. One individual of S. hanjiangensis was a 30-year-old 2.07 metres (6.8 ft) tall and weighed 2.1 tonnes (2.1 long tons; 2.3 short tons).[1]

Taxonomy

According to [2]

†Gomphotheriidae (Gomphotheres)
 

†Gomphotherium

 
 
 

†Gnathabelodon

 
 
 

†Eubelodon

 
Brevirostrine clade
 

†Stegomastodon

 
 
 

†Sinomastodon

 
 
 

†Notiomastodon

 
 
 

†Rhynchotherium

 
 

†Cuvieronius

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Diet

The diet of Sinomastodon was probably that of a browser, similar to another proboscidean which it shared its environment with, Stegodon.[3]

References
  1. Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014.
  2. Mothé, Dimila; Ferretti, Marco P.; Avilla, Leonardo S. (12 January 2016). "The Dance of Tusks: Rediscovery of Lower Incisors in the Pan-American Proboscidean Cuvieronius hyodon Revises Incisor Evolution in Elephantimorpha". PLOS ONE. 11 (1): e0147009. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1147009M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147009. PMC 4710528. PMID 26756209.
  3. Zhang, Hanwen; Wang, Yuan; Janis, Christine M.; Goodall, Robert H.; Purnell, Mark A. (26 July 2016). "An examination of feeding ecology in Pleistocene proboscideans from southern China (Sinomastodon, Stegodon, Elephas), by means of dental microwear texture analysis". Quaternary International. 445: 60–70. Bibcode:2017QuInt.445...60Z. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.07.011.
  • Tobien, H., Chen, G.F., and Li, Y.Q., 1986; Mastodons (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the LateNeogene and Early Pleistocene of the People's Republic of China. Part I, HistoricalAccount. Mainzer geowiss, mitt., 15, pp. 119–181.
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