Paratetralophodon
Overview
Gomphothere
Gomphotheriidae is a diverse taxonomic family of extinct elephant-like animals , called gomphotheres. They were widespread in North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, 12-1.6 million years ago. Some lived in parts of Eurasia, Beringia and, following the Great American Interchange,...
. Paratetralophodon may be an ancestor of Tetralophodon
Tetralophodon
Tetralophodon is an extinct gomphothere genus . Like typical gomphotheres, Tetralophodon had four tusks and a trunk. This genus of animals stood about ten feet tall and was a very widespread and successful proboscidean. Tetralophodon lived through the Miocene and Pliocene epoches...
. The elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
-like animal lived through the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
and Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
epochs. It had four tusk
Tusk
Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth, usually but not always in pairs, that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canines, as with warthogs, wild boar, and walruses, or, in the case of elephants and narwhals, elongated incisors...
s and a trunk.