Elephant Evolution

Moeritherium is a genus of animals that are ancestors of elephants. Moeritherium was named after Lake Moeris combined with Ancient Greek.

• Animals in this genus were proboscideans meaning it was of the order Proboscidea. Their upper lip was very long (it might have been used to hold plants).
• Moeritherium animals were also related to manatees (also known as sea cows). Moeritherium animals had sturdy legs. The teeth of Moeritherium animals looked like small tusks, but they looked more like the teeth of a hippo.
• Based on studies of their skulls, scientists think these animals did not have a trunk. They had strong legs and a short tail. These animals were as long as a horse, and as heavy as a boar.
• They are in fact closely related to hippos than elephants. These animals had many traits similar to that of hippos. Moeritherium animals are technically pachyderms.

Deinotherium is a genus of animals that are ancestors of elephants that resemble elephant more than animals of the genus Moeritherium.

• The word Deinotherium was derived from the Ancient Greek language.
• These animals originated from Europe, but they then traveled to different continents like Asia.
• Animals in this genus had a very short trunk. Animals in Deinotherium had tusks as well, but unlike modern-day elephants, animals in this genus had their tusks in their lower jaw meaning the tusks pointed downwards instead of upwards like elephants today.
• These animals were longer than Asian elephants. The reason why these animals went extinct was because of climate change and human interference (hunting).

Unlike modern elephants, animals in the genus Gomphotherium had two sets of tusks – one coming from their upper jaw and one from the lower jaw.

• The lower tusks were used to shovel up plant matter from lakes that were flooded.
• Gomphotherium animals lived during the Miocene period and Pliocene period.
• Believe it or not, animals in the genus of Gomphotherium were about two times the length of a king-size bed.
• Also they were lighter than modern-day elephants. Gomphotherium animals were about 3 meters tall.

The woolly mammoth is the most commonly known elephant ancestor. Wooly mammoths only went extinct thousands of years ago, unlike the first three ancestors.

• Just like African elephants, woolly mammoths had two fingers on their trunks. Woolly mammoths would have been almost the same size as an elephant today.
• Early humans hunted woolly mammoths for their ivory as well as meat. Unlike modern-day elephants, woolly mammoths were covered completely with hair.
• The habitat of a woolly mammoth is called a mammoth steppe or tundra steppe. Scientists have tried to recreate woolly mammoths using DNA found, but so far, it is not working.

The steppe mammoth was two times the size of a modern elephant.

• One difference between woolly mammoths and steppe mammoths is that steppe mammoths are not covered with hair like woolly mammoths.
• The full skeleton of this humongous animal is still yet to be found.
• This mammoth’s tusks could grow as long as 4.9 meters.
• The most complete skeleton of a steppe mammoth was found in 1996.