Sinomastodon – Wikipedia

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Extinct genus of proboscid

Sinomastodon (“Chinese mastodont”) is an extinct gomphothere genus (of order Proboscidea), from the Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene deposits of Asia (China, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and probably Kashmir[1])

The animal was very similar to modern elephants with sizes ranging from 3.6 to 5.3 m. Several species are known from China, the best-known being S. hanjiangensis from the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of the Shanxi province. It is known from an incomplete skeleton of an adult (measuring 5.3 m) including maxilla, mandibles, teeth, tusks and other materials that have been discovered. The Japanese species S. sendaicus described in 1924 from dentary materials from Pliocene deposits has been ascribed to the genus, as well as the species S. bumiajuensis (formerly Tetralophodon) from the late Pliocene of Java. One individual of S. hanjiangensis was a 30-year-old 2.07 metres (6.8 ft) tall and weighed 2.1 tonnes (2.1 long tons; 2.3 short tons).[2]

Taxonomy[edit]

The taxonomic position of Sinomastodon is disputed. Some authors suggest that Sinomastodon originated from North American gomphotheres that migrated into Asia. Position acccording to Mothé et al. 2016 supporting this hypothesis, showing Sinomastodon nested amongst North American gomphotheres:[3]

However, the teeth of the earliest Sinomastodon species from the Late Miocene are zygodont, a morphology unknown in North American gomphotheres. Therefore is it is alternatively suggested that it derived from an Asian species of Gomphotherium, such as G. subtapiroideum or G. wimani.[4]

The diet of Sinomastodon was probably that of a browser, similar to another proboscidean which it shared its environment with, Stegodon.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Parray, Khursheed A.; Jukar, Advait M.; Paul, Abdul Qayoom; Ahmad, Ishfaq; Patnaik, Rajeev (March 2022). Silcox, Mary (ed.). “A gomphothere (Mammalia, Proboscidea) from the Quaternary of the Kashmir Valley, India”. Papers in Palaeontology. 8 (2). doi:10.1002/spp2.1427. ISSN 2056-2799. S2CID 247653516.
  2. ^ Larramendi, A. (2016). “Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans” (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014.
  3. ^ Mothé, Dimila; Ferretti, Marco P.; Avilla, Leonardo S. (12 January 2016). “The Dance of Tusks: Rediscovery of Lower Incisors in the Pan-American Proboscidean Cuvieronius hyodon Revises Incisor Evolution in Elephantimorpha”. PLOS ONE. 11 (1): e0147009. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1147009M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147009. PMC 4710528. PMID 26756209.
  4. ^ Wang, Shi-Qi; Ji, Xue-Ping; Jablonski, Nina G.; Su, Denise F.; Ge, Jun-Yi; Ding, Chang-Fen; Yu, Teng-Song; Li, Wen-Qi; Duangkrayom, Jaroon (June 2016). “The Oldest Cranium of Sinomastodon (Proboscidea, Gomphotheriidae), Discovered in the Uppermost Miocene of Southwestern China: Implications for the Origin and Migration of This Taxon”. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 23 (2): 155–173. doi:10.1007/s10914-015-9311-z. ISSN 1064-7554.
  5. ^ Zhang, Hanwen; Wang, Yuan; Janis, Christine M.; Goodall, Robert H.; Purnell, Mark A. (26 July 2016). “An examination of feeding ecology in Pleistocene proboscideans from southern China (Sinomastodon, Stegodon, Elephas), by means of dental microwear texture analysis”. Quaternary International. 445: 60–70. Bibcode:2017QuInt.445…60Z. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.07.011.
  • Tobien, H., Chen, G.F., and Li, Y.Q., 1986; Mastodons (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the LateNeogene and Early Pleistocene of the People’s Republic of China. Part I, HistoricalAccount. Mainzer geowiss, mitt., 15, pp. 119–181.

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