Gnathabelodon
aka Thorpe's Spoon-billed Mastodon‭ (‬G.‭ ‬thorpei‭) ‬and Buckner's Spoon-billed Mastodon‭ (‬G.‭ ‬buckneri‭)‬.

Name: Gnathabelodon ‭(‬Jaw tusk‭)‬.
Phonetic: Nayf-a-bel-o-don.
Named By: Barbour and Sternberg‭ ‬-‭ ‬1935.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Proboscidea,‭ ‬Gomphotheriidae.
Species: G.‭ ‬thorpei‭ (‬type‭).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: USA‭ ‬-‭ ‬Kansas‭ & ‬Texas.
Time period: Miocene.
Fossil representation: Remains of at least two individuals.

       As a gompothere elephant,‭ ‬Gnathabelodon differed from today‭’‬s‭ ‬elephants by having enlarged incisor teeth in the lower jaw that formed a‭ ‘‬shovel‭’ ‬protruding from the tip of the lower jaw.‭ ‬In the past Gnathabelodon has been considered to be the same elephant as the closely related Gompotherium‭ (‬the type genus of the Gomphotheriidae‭)‬,‭ ‬though today Gnathabelodon is still usually treated as a distinct genus.

Further reading
- The Dance of Tusks: Rediscovery of Lower Incisors in the Pan-American Proboscidean Cuvieronius hyodon Revises Incisor Evolution in Elephantimorpha. - PLOS ONE. - Dimila Moth�, Marco P. Ferretti, Leonardo S. Avilla & S. Leonardo - 2016.



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