Platybelodon

Taxobox
name = "Platybelodon"


image_caption = skeleton at Hubei province
image_width = 300px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Proboscidea
familia = Gomphotheriidae
tribus = Amebelodontini
genus = "Platybelodon"
genus_authority = Borissiak, 1928
specie = Platybelodon grangeri

"Platybelodon" ("flat-tusk") was a genus of large herbivorous mammal related to the elephant (order Proboscidea). It lived during the Miocene Epoch, about 15-4 million years ago, and ranged over Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. Although it thrived during its time, it did not survive past the Miocene and is now extinct. Some have speculated that it became too specialized and was unable to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Platybelodon was previously believed to have fed in the swampy areas of grassy savannas using its teeth to shovel up aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation. However, wear patterns on the teeth suggest that it used its lower tusks to strip bark from trees. Platybelodon was very similar to the "Amebelodon", another gomphothere species. Another possibility is that it used its shovel-tusks to dig for water in dry seasons.

Due to the shape of the two lower teeth, which are worn by many gomphothere species (such as Platybelodon, Archaeobelodon, and Amebelodon) they are popularly known as shovel tuskers.

pecies

*"P. barnumbrowni "(Barbour, 1931)
*"P. danovi "(Borissiak, 1928)
*"P. grangeri Osborn, 1929)
*"P. loomisi" (Barbour, 1929)

References

*Barry Cox, Colin Harrison, R.J.G. Savage, and Brian Gardiner. (1999): The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life. Simon & Schuster.
*Jordi Agusti and Mauricio Anton. (2002): Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids. Pg.90,Columbia University Press.
*Jayne Parsons.(2001): Dinosaur Encyclopedia. Pg.260, Dorling Kindersley.
*David Norman. (2001): The Big Book Of Dinosaurs. Pg.420-421, Welcome Books.
*Hazel Richardson.(2003): Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals (Smithsonian Handbooks). Pg.173, Dorling Kindersley.

Links

* [http://www.kokorodinosaurs.com/icephoto.html photo] of museum reconstruction of Platybelodon

ee also

* Amebelodon
* Archaeobelodon
* Gnathabelodon
* Eubelodon
* Serbelodon