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Choerolophodon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Synconolophus)

Choerolophodon
Temporal range: Miocene, 19–5.3 Ma
Skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: †Choerolophodontidae
Genus: †Choerolophodon
Schlesinger, 1917
Species
  • C. pentelici (Gaudry and Lartet, 1856) (type)
  • C. anatolicus (Ozansoy 1965)
  • C. corrugatus (Pilgrim, 1913)
  • C. ngorora (Maglio, 1974)
  • C. zaltaniensis Gaziry, 1987
Synonyms
  • Mastodon pentelicus Gaudry and Lartet, 1856

Choerolophodon is an extinct genus of choerolophodontid proboscidean that lived during the Miocene in Eurasia and Africa.[1][2][3][4]

Description

[edit]
Molar

The tusks growing from the upper jaw are long and strongly curved,[5] with one large mostly complete tusk from the Chalkidiki Peninsula of Greece having a total length of around 2.5 metres (8.2 ft), with a likely total weight when complete of around 70 kilograms (150 lb).[6] The molar teeth are trilophodont and bunodont. The half-lophids are chevroned. The accessory conules are multiplied (choerodont), and the enamel is corrugated (ptychodont).[7] The lower jaw has an unusual combination of being long, but lacking tusks/incisors, a trait only shared among proboscideans with the North American gomphothere genera Eubelodon and Gnathabelodon.[8] It has been suggested that instead of teeth, the end of the lower jaw housed a keratinous cutting blade.[9]

Taxonomy

[edit]

The name Choerolophodon was erected for "Mastodon" pentelicus from Greece by Schlesinger (1917) based on the discovery of new material from the pentelicus type locality.[10] A 2022 study considered Choerolophodon to be a basal member of Elephantida, with Amebelodontidae and Gomphotheriidae more closely related to each other than either is to Choerolophodon.[11]

Numerous species of Choerolophodon are known: C. pentelicus and C. anatolicus from Southeast Europe (Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria) and the Middle East, C. corrugatus from the Indian subcontinent, and C. ngorora and C. zaltaniensis from Africa.[12] Choerolophodon previously included nearly all choerolophontid species. A 2026 study reassigned "C." chioticus from Greece and "C." connexus from China to the new genus Parachoerodon. They also assigned to "C." guangheensis from China and "C." palaeindicus from the Indian subcontinent to the new genus Eochoerodon.[13]

Ecology

[edit]
Reconstruction of a herd of Choerolophodon

Dental microwear analysis of specimens from Greece suggest that these individuals were grazers,[12] while mesowear analysis of specimens from East Africa suggest varying browsing and grazing-dominated mixed feeding diets, depending on locality.[14] The presence of Cholerolophodon in a fossiliferous locality has been used to infer that the environment was an open one.[15]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Chunxiao Li, Shi-Qi Wang, Dimila Mothé & Xijun Ni (2019) New fossils of early and middle Miocene Choerolophodon from northern China reveal a Holarctic distribution of Choerolophodontidae, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2019.1618864
  2. ↑ Sankhyan, Anek R. and Chavasseau, Olivier. 2018. New proboscidean fossils from Middle Siwaliks of Haritalyangar area, Himachal Pradesh, India. Palaeontologia Electronica 21.1.15A 1-12. https://doi.org/10.26879/844 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2018/2200-haritalyangar-proboscideans
  3. ↑ Wang, S.; Deng, T. (2011). "The first Choerolophodon (Proboscidea, Gomphotheriidae) skull from China". Science China Earth Sciences. 54 (9): 1326. Bibcode:2011ScChD..54.1326W. doi:10.1007/s11430-011-4201-6. S2CID 131674259.
  4. ↑ "Tek parça halinde ve 7.5 milyon yıllık! Kayseri'de bulundu - Habertürk". Haberturk.com (in Turkish). Habertürk. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  5. ↑ Konidaris, George E.; Koufos, George D. (2013) [March 2013]. "Late Miocene Proboscidea (Mammalia) from Macedonia and Samos Island, Greece: preliminary results". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 87 (1): 121–140. Bibcode:2013PalZ...87..121K. doi:10.1007/s12542-012-0147-z. ISSN 0031-0220. S2CID 128764592.
  6. ↑ Larramendi, Asier (2023-12-10). "Estimating tusk masses in proboscideans: a comprehensive analysis and predictive model". Historical Biology. 37: 45–58. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2286272. ISSN 0891-2963.
  7. ↑ Konidaris, George E.; Tsoukala, Evangelia (2022), "The Fossil Record of the Neogene Proboscidea (Mammalia) in Greece", in Vlachos, Evangelos (ed.), Fossil Vertebrates of Greece Vol. 1, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 299–344, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-68398-6_12, ISBN 978-3-030-68397-9, S2CID 245023119, retrieved 2023-03-25
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Li, Chunxiao; Deng, Tao; Wang, Yang; Sun, Fajun; Wolff, Burt; Jiangzuo, Qigao; Ma, Jiao; Xing, Luda; Fu, Jiao (2024). "The trunk replaces the longer mandible as the main feeding organ in elephant evolution". eLife. 12 RP90908. bioRxiv 10.1101/2023.08.15.553347. doi:10.7554/elife.90908.
  10. ↑ Schlesinger, G., 1917. Die Mastodonten des K. K. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums. Denkschriften des K. K. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums 1:1-230.
  11. ↑ Baleka, Sina; Varela, Luciano; Tambusso, P. Sebastián; Paijmans, Johanna L.A.; Mothé, Dimila; Stafford, Thomas W.; Fariña, Richard A.; Hofreiter, Michael (January 2022). "Revisiting proboscidean phylogeny and evolution through total evidence and palaeogenetic analyses including Notiomastodon ancient DNA". iScience. 25 (1) 103559. Bibcode:2022iSci...25j3559B. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103559. PMC 8693454. PMID 34988402.
  12. 1 2 Konidaris, George E.; Koufos, George D.; Kostopoulos, Dimitris S.; Merceron, Gildas (2 January 2016). "Taxonomy, biostratigraphy and palaeoecology of Choerolophodon (Proboscidea, Mammalia) in the Miocene of SE Europe-SW Asia: implications for phylogeny and biogeography". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 14 (1): 1–27. Bibcode:2016JSPal..14....1K. doi:10.1080/14772019.2014.985339. ISSN 1477-2019. Retrieved 6 September 2025 – via Taylor and Francis Online.
  13. ↑ Li, Chunxiao; Wang, Shi-Qi (2026-05-05). "Evolution of choerolophodontids in the Miocene of northern China". Historical Biology: 1–16. doi:10.1080/08912963.2026.2651915. ISSN 0891-2963.
  14. ↑ Saarinen, Juha; Lister, Adrian M. (2023-08-14). "Fluctuating climate and dietary innovation drove ratcheted evolution of proboscidean dental traits". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 7 (9): 1490–1502. Bibcode:2023NatEE...7.1490S. doi:10.1038/s41559-023-02151-4. ISSN 2397-334X. PMC 10482678. PMID 37580434.
  15. ↑ Jafarzadeh, Reza; Konidaris, George E. (28 August 2019). "Choerolophodon (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from a new upper Miocene locality: Kivi-1 (Iran)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. 100 (1): 269–280. doi:10.1007/s12549-019-00398-z. ISSN 1867-1594. Retrieved 5 September 2025 – via Springer Nature Link.
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