Eozygodon
Extinct genus of mammal
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Eozygodon ( "dawn yoke-tooth") is an extinct genus of proboscidean in the family Mammutidae. It is a monotypic genus that contains the single species E. morotoensis, named in 1983.[1] It is known from the Early Miocene of Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Namibia)[2] and well as possibly the Middle Miocene of China.[3] It is considered a primitive member of the family, retaining a long lower jaw (longirostrine) with lower tusks.[3][4] The upper tusks are small, and are only slightly divergent from each other. The skull of the young adult (around 24-26 years old in African elephant tooth wear equivalent years) AM 02 from Auchas, Namibia, was around the size of that of a 10 year old American mastodon,[5] around 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) in maximum length.[6] Some authors suggest that Eozygodon could be less closely related to other members of Mammutidae than other mammutids are to Elephantida, making Mammutidae as typically defined paraphyletic.[5]
| Eozygodon Temporal range: Early Miocene ~ | |
|---|---|
| |
| Occlusal view of the third lower molar (m3) of E. morotoensis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | †Mammutidae |
| Genus: | †Eozygodon Tassy & Pickford, 1983 |
| Species: | †E. morotoensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Eozygodon morotoensis Tassy & Pickford, 1983 | |