Amebelodontidae

Amebelodontidae is an extinct family of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to elephants. They were formerly assigned to Gomphotheriidae, but recent authors consider them a distinct family.^[1][2] They are distinguished from other proboscideans by having flattened lower tusks (leading to the nickname "shovel tuskers") and very elongate mandibular symphysis.^[1] The lower tusks could grow to considerable size, with those of Konobelodon reaching 1.61 metres (5.3 ft) in length.^[3] Their molar teeth are typically trilophodont (with only Konobelodon being fully tetralophodont), and possessed posttrite conules.^[4] In the past, amebelodonts' shovel-like mandibular tusks led to them being portrayed scooping up water plants, however, dental microwear suggests that they were browsers and mixed feeders. The lower tusks have been proposed to have had a variety of functions depending on the species, including stripping bark, cutting through vegetation, as well as possibly digging.^[5][1][6] They first appeared in Africa during the Early Miocene, and subsequently dispersed into Eurasia and then North America. They became extinct by the beginning of the Pliocene.^[4] While some phylogenetic studies have recovered Amebelodontidae as a monophyletic group that forms the sister group to Gomphotheriidae proper,^[7] some authors have argued that Amebelodontidae may be polyphyletic, with it being suggested that the shovel-tusked condition arose several times independently within Gomphotheriidae, thus rendering the family invalid.^[8]

Amebelodontidae Temporal range: Early Miocene–Late Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Platybelodon skeleton in a Hubei, China, museum
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Clade:	Elephantida
Family:	†Amebelodontidae Barbour, 1927
Genera
†Afromastodon Pickford, 2003 †Amebelodon Barbour, 1927 †Aphanobelodon Wang, Deng, Ye, He, and Chen, 2016 †Archaeobelodon Tassy, 1984 †Eurybelodon Lambert, 2016 †Konobelodon Lambert, 1990 †Platybelodon Borissiak, 1928 †Progomphotherium Pickford, 2003 †Protanancus Arambourg, 1945 †Serbelodon Frick, 1933 †Stenobelodon Lambert, 2023 †Torynobelodon Barbour, 1929 †Eubelodon? Barbour 1914 †Megabelodon? Barbour 1914

Phylogeny of Amebelodontidae after Li et al. 2023.^[9]