What does the word Proboscidea mean?
: any of an order (Proboscidea) of large mammals comprising the elephants and extinct related forms (such as mastodons)
What is meant by Elephantidae?
Definition of Elephantidae : a family of bulky mammals (order Proboscidea) comprising the recent elephants and related extinct forms (such as the mammoths) that differ from these chiefly in respect to their dentition and in former classifications including also the mastodons.
What are the characteristics of the order Proboscidea?
Pleistocene proboscideans in general have many of the traits we associate with elephants, such as a trunk (an elongated hose-like extension containing the nasal passages), tusks (the enlarged second upper incisors; in some extinct forms, the second lower incisors also formed tusks), and a relatively large size.
What is Proboscidea in biology?
The Proboscidea (/prɒbəˈsɪdiːə/, from the Greek προβοσκίς and the Latin proboscis) are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives.
What does proboscidea mean in Latin?
pertaining to or resembling a proboscis. having a proboscis.
What are Proboscidean fossils?
These animals are a diverse group of mammals that includes elephants and their extinct cousins, such as the Woolly Mammoth and Mastodon. …
What are elephants ancestors?
Species: Woolly mammoth As members of the family Elephantidae, woolly mammoths were themselves elephants. Their last common ancestor with modern-day elephants lived somewhere in Africa about 6 million years ago. Wooly mammoths were roaming Earth’s northern latitudes during the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
What did elephants evolve?
About 80 Million years ago, the genetic linage of elephants split from primates. The tree shrew is considered our nearest common ancestor. It is believed that 50-60 million years ago, Moeritheriums, approximately the size of current day pigs, were the roots from which the proboscideans evolved.
What was the largest Proboscidea?
Palaeoloxodon namadicus
The largest-known land mammal ever was a proboscidean called Palaeoloxodon namadicus which weighed about 22 t (24.3 short tons) and measured about 5.2 m (17.1 ft) tall at the shoulder.
What is the order Proboscidea?
Therapsid
Proboscideans/Order
What animals are in the Proboscidea family?
Modern-day Proboscidea is represented by one family, the family Elephantidae. There are two living members of the family Elephantidae (elephants), the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) and the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana). Some extinct proboscideans include the woolly mammoth and the mastodon.