Platybelodon Explained
Platybelodon ("flat-spear tusk") is an extinct genus of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to modern-day elephants, placed in the "shovel tusker" family Amebelodontidae. Species lived during the middle Miocene Epoch in Africa, Asia and the Caucasus.
Palaeobiology
Platybelodon was previously believed to have fed in the swampy areas of grassy savannas, using its teeth to shovel up aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation. However, wear patterns on the teeth suggest that it used its lower tusks to strip bark from trees, and may have used the sharp incisors that formed the edge of the "shovel" more like a modern-day scythe, grasping branches with its trunk and rubbing them against the lower teeth to cut it from a tree.[1] Adults in particular might have eaten coarser vegetation more frequently than juveniles.[2]
See also
Further reading
- Harry Cox, Colin Harrison, R.J.G. Savage, and Brian Gardiner. (1999): The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life. Simon & Schuster.
- Jordi Agusti and Mauricio Anton. (2002): Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids. Pg.90, Columbia University Press.
- Jayne Parsons.(2001): Dinosaur Encyclopedia. Pg.260, Dorling Kindersley.
- David Norman. (2001): The Big Book Of Dinosaurs. Pg.420-421, Welcome Books.
- Hazel Richardson.(2003): Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals (Smithsonian Handbooks). Pg.173, Dorling Kindersley.
Notes and References
- Lambert. W.D. 1992. The feeding habits of the shovel-tusked gomphotheres: evidence from tusk wear patterns. Paleobiology. 18. 2. 132–147. 2400995. 10.1017/S0094837300013932. 1992Pbio...18..132L . 87230816 .
- Semprebon. Gina. Tao. Deng. Hasjanova. Jelena. Solounias. Nikos. 2016 . An examination of the dietary habits of Platybelodon grangeri from the Linxia Basin of China: Evidence from dental microwear of molar teeth and tusks. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 457. 109–116. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.06.012. 2016PPP...457..109S . free.
