Amebelodontidae

Amebelodontidae is an extinct family of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to elephants. They were formerly assigned to Gomphotheriidae, but recent authors consider them a distinct family.[1][2] They are distinguished from other proboscideans by having flattened lower tusks (leading to the nickname "shovel tuskers") and very elongate mandibular symphysis.[1] Their molar teeth are typically trilophodont, and possesed posttrite conules.[3] In the past, Amebelodonts' shovel-like mandibular tusks led to them being portrayed scooping up water plants, however, dental microwear suggests that they were browsers and mixed feeders. The lower tusks have been proposed to have had a variety of functions depending on the species, including stripping bark, cutting through vegetation, as well as possibly digging.[4][1][5] They first appeared in Africa during the Early Miocene, and subsequently dispersed into Eurasia and then North America. They became extinct by the beginning of the Pliocene.[3]

Amebelodontidae Temporal range:
Platybelodon skeleton in a Hubei, China, museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Clade:	Elephantida
Family:	†Amebelodontidae Barbour, 1927
Genera
†Afromastodon Pickford, 2003 †Amebelodon Barbour, 1927 †Aphanobelodon Wang, Deng, Ye, He, and Chen, 2016 †Archaeobelodon Tassy, 1984 †Eurybelodon Lambert, 2016 †Konobelodon Lambert, 1990 †Platybelodon Borissiak, 1928 †Progomphotherium Pickford, 2003 †Protanancus Arambourg, 1945 †Serbelodon Frick, 1933 †Torynobelodon Barbour, 1929