Konobelodon

Konobelodon Temporal range: Miocene, 12–5.3 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Mandible of Konobelodon britti on display at the State Museum of Pennsylvania
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Family:	†Amebelodontidae
Genus:	†Konobelodon Lambert, 1990
Species
K. atticus (Wagner, 1857) K. britti (Lambert, 1990) (type) K. robustus Wang, Shi, He, Chen, and Yang, 2016[1] K. cyrenaicus (Gaziry, 1987)

Konobelodon is an extinct genus of amebelodont proboscidean from the Miocene of Africa, Eurasia and North America.

Taxonomy

Restoration of K. britti

Konobelodon was originally coined as a subgenus of Amebelodon,^[2] and was subsequently elevated to full generic rank in a 2014 re-appraisal of "Mastodon" atticus.^[3] Within Amebelodontinae, Konobelodon is closely related to Platybelodon and Torynobelodon.^[1] The genus Konobelodon likely originated in eastern Eurasia, with K. robustus being known from the Liushu Formation in the Gansu Province of China.^[4] Under this hypothesis, it diverged via separate migrations westward into Europe and western Asia, represented by K. atticus, and eastward into North America, where the genus arrived c. 7 Ma and survived until the very end of the Miocene.^[3] The species Konobelodon cyrenaicus is known from the Late Miocene of North Africa, representing the latest surviving amebelodont on the African continent.^[5]

Description

As shovel-tusked amebelodonts, Konobelodon has two pairs of tusks, one growing from the upper jaw and a second from the lower. K. robustus is estimated to have had a body mass between 2,802–7,367 kilograms (6,177–16,241 lb), making it generally larger than most gomphotheres on account of its thicker limb bones. Its standing posture, however, was not likely as column-like as that of extant elephants and American brevirostrine gomphotheres.^[4] The lower tusks were proportionally large, reaching 1.61 metres (5.3 ft) in length.^[6]

Ecology

Konobelodon is suggested to have been a browser, based on dental microwear analysis. The upper tusks were likely used for slicing and scraping, while the lower tusks may have been used for digging.^[7]

References

1. Wang, S.; SHI, Q.; HE, W.; Chen, S.; Yang, X. (2016). "— A new species of the tetralophodont amebelodontine Konobelodon Lambert, 1990 (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of China". Geodiversitas. 38 (1): 65–97. doi:10.5252/g2016n1a4. S2CID 87203029.
2. Lambert, W. D. (1990). "Rediagnosis of the genus Amebelodon (Mammalia, Proboscidea, Gomphotheriidae) with a new subgenus and species, Amebelodon (Konobelodon) britti". Journal of Paleontology. 64 (6): 1032–1041. Bibcode:1990JPal...64.1032L. doi:10.1017/S0022336000019855. S2CID 131312289.
3. Konidaris, G. E.; Roussiakis, S. J.; Theodorou, G. E.; Koufos, G. D. (2014). "The Eurasian occurrence of the shovel-tusker Konobelodon (Mammalia, Proboscidea) as illuminated by its presence in the late Miocene of Pikermi (Greece)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (6): 1437–53. Bibcode:2014JVPal..34.1437K. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.873622. S2CID 84396676.
4. Wang, ShiQi; Shi, QinQin; He, Wen; Chen, ShanQin; Yang, XiangWen (2016-03-25). "A new species of the tetralophodont amebelodontine Konobelodon Lambert, 1990 (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of China". Geodiversitas. 38 (1): 65–97. doi:10.5252/g2016n1a4. ISSN 1280-9659. S2CID 87203029.
5. Sanders, William J. (2023-07-07). Evolution and Fossil Record of African Proboscidea (1 ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 161–163. doi:10.1201/b20016. ISBN 978-1-315-11891-8. S2CID 259625811.
6. Larramendi, Asier (2023-12-10). "Estimating tusk masses in proboscideans: a comprehensive analysis and predictive model". Historical Biology: 1–14. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2286272. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 266182491.
7. Semprebon, Gina M.; Pirlo, Jeanette; Dudek, Julia (2022-11-30). "Dietary Habits and Tusk Usage of Shovel-Tusked Gomphotheres from Florida: Evidence from Stereoscopic Wear of Molars and Upper and Lower Tusks". Biology. 11 (12): 1748. doi:10.3390/biology11121748. ISSN 2079-7737. PMC 9774678. PMID 36552258.