Serbelodon

  • Asia
  • North America

Serbelodon is a now extinct Proboscidea genus, which occurred some 15 million to 8 million years in East Asia and the western North America in the Middle and Lower Miocene.

Features

Serbelodon resembled the related genus Amebelodon, but had a shorter mandibular symphysis with a very short and had small tusks. These were shovel-shaped and pointed to the top of a continuous saddling up. The molars possessed characteristic melting wrinkles, whereby the teeth get a lophodonten construction. The last molars (M3), four or five of such folds were formed melt, while the other three exhibited.

Paleobiology

The shovel-like tusks were probably digging in the mud and the lifting of plant material from the water. This assumption was first proposed because of specific wear marks on the tusks and supported by subsequent isotopic studies of the molars. Data obtained from these analyzes fluctuation values ​​of 13C and 18O isotopes were very low. This suggests that Serbelodon partly amphibious lived in more or less closed landscapes on the banks of water bodies and are mainly fed on mixed vegetable diet, due to the very low values ​​for the oxygen isotope also a greater amount of water plants included.

System

Serbelodon one of the Amebelodontinae, a subfamily of Gomphotheriidae, which are characterized by shovel-like tusks in the lower jaw. Here again, they are a part of the trilophodonten gomphotheres with three enamel folds on the anterior molars. Within the Amebelodontinae Serbelodon forms a closely related clade with Archaebelodon, Amebelodon and Protanacus.

Serbelodon was first described in 1933 by Childs Frick based on findings from the Ash Hollow Formation, which come from the quarry " Christmas Quarry " in Cherry County ( Nebraska). These include a fragmented skull and a mandible ( holotype specimen number F: AM 25728 ). Heinz Tobien placed the genus in 1972 with regard to very little separating features with Amebelodon same. Many paleontologists, however, use Serbelodon still as a valid taxon. Reasons here are in addition to individual features in the structure of the molars and the shorter and not as strong flattened mandibular tusks, less developed than those appearing in Amebelodon.

Several species have been described from Serbelodon:

  • Serbelodon barbourensis Frick, 1933
  • Serbelodon zhongningensis Guan, 1986
  • Serbelodon burnhami Osborn, 1933

The type Serbelodon burnhami was named in honor of the American Scouts Frederick Russell Burnham. It is now mostly of the genus Amebelodon attributed

The earliest evidence of Serbelodon can be some 15 million years ago found in China, one of the earliest sites is Wudaoling Autonomous Region Ningxia. 12 million years ago, it made ​​her first appearance in North America, but here it is only a few sites in California and Nebraska known. The most recent evidence are present here with 8 million years in East Asia, it is probably extinct 11 million years ago.

Mya (unit) Fossil Afrotheria Cherry County, Nebraska Henry Fairfield Osborn
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