Cuvieronius

Live reconstruction of Cuvieronius hyodon

• Southern Andes
• Peru
• Southern United States

Cuvieronius ( = Cordillerion ) was a pachyderm - genre of Gomphotheriidae family and lived in the Pliocene and Pleistocene in America.

Appearance

Cuvieronius differs from Stegomastodon and Haplomastodon who lived at the same time in South America, with its wide, long skull, the smaller body size and the simpler molars ( back teeth ). The animals were relatively small (only about 2.2 m long), which was probably an adaptation to mountainous habitats. The characteristic features of the genus were the 2 m long, slightly curved tusks, around which a spiral band of enamel argued that the short symphysis of the mandible and the expression of the molars. These had a lophodonten structure with transverse enamel bands, the front two molars every three of these bands had melting and is characteristic of trilophodonte gomphotheres. The last molar, however, consisted of four or five enamel strips. The endpoints of the respective strips were slightly offset from each other. It is conceivable that the South American species, which occurred in a rather inhospitable habitats, even had a coat.

Dissemination

Cuvieronius lived from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene in southern North America from Arizona to Florida. From there it passed over the Central American land bridge to South America, where it is proved from the Spätpliozän. It survived until the late Pleistocene, possibly even into the early Holocene. From South America only one way Cuvieronius hyodon is known. This was limited to the Andean region and lived in what is now Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Western Argentina. The genus disappeared along with many other large animal species in South America at the beginning of the Holocene in the wake of a worldwide Quaternary extinctions.

Way of life

Cuvieronius hyodon was a mountain dwellers, whose habitat was mainly the high plateaus of the Andes up to an altitude of about 4000 m ( Peru). In contrast to the other South American gomphotheres that were likely to be found in warm zones, Cuvieronius should be finished with cool weather conditions. On the basis of isotope studies on the teeth, it was found that the animals apparently subsisted on both deciduous and grass food. In Taima Taima in Venezuela about 13,000 year-old remains have been together with those of horses (Equus ), giant armadillos ( Glyptodon ) and undetermined predators found this gomphotheres genus. Similar situations are Fund of the 11,000 year old sites Quereo and Tagua Tagua (both Chile), where in addition to the proboscis animals also remains of deer ( Blastocerus ) and humans (Homo ) are present. They belong to the most recent evidence of Cuvieronius, The connection of human remains with those of Cuvieronius is an indication that the early people have the mammoths might hunted, studies of the bone showed individual signs of human manipulation in the form of cut marks.

System

Cuvieronius among the trilophodonten gomphotheres, characterized by melting the three bands on the two first molars. Within the gomphotheres belongs to the genus phylogenetically younger subfamily of Rhynchotheriinae, maybe it arose from the widespread also in Central and South America Rhynchotherium.

Several species have been described from Cuvieronius Until recently these were of generally recognized with Cuvieronius hyodon and Cuvieronius tropicus two. Recent studies, especially on the back teeth, revealed no systematic demarcation possibility of C. tropicus to C. hyodon, so that the former was equated with the latter and Cuvieronius with C. hyodon currently only one type includes what is widely recognized today.