''Anancus'' is an extinct
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
elephantoid
Elephantoidea is a taxonomic group that contains the elephants as well as their closest extinct relatives. The following cladogram shows the relationships among elephantoids, based on hyoid
The hyoid bone (lingual bone or tongue-bone) () is a ...
proboscidea
The Proboscidea (; , ) are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. From ...
ns ("
gomphothere
Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during ...
" ''
sensu lato
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...
'') native to
Afro-Eurasia
Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia, Eurafrasia or the Old World) is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The terms are compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Its mainland is the largest and most populou ...
, that lived from the
Tortonian
The Tortonian is in the geologic time scale an age or stage of the late Miocene that spans the time between 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma and 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Serravallian and is followed by the Messinian.
The Torton ...
stage of the late
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
until the genus' extinction during the early
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
, roughly from 8.5–2 million years ago.
Taxonomy
The type genus of the family, ''Anancus'', was named by
Auguste Aymard
Auguste Aymard (5 December 1808 – 26 June 1889) was a French prehistorian and palaeontologist who lived and died in Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire). He described the fossil '' Entelodon magnus'' and the fossil genera ''Anancus'' and ''Amphechinus''.
...
in 1855. It was traditionally allocated to
Gomphotheriidae
Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during ...
, but was later assigned to the family
Elephantidae
Elephantidae is a family (biology), family of large, herbivorous proboscidean mammals collectively called elephants and mammoths. These are terrestrial animal, terrestrial large mammals with a snout modified into a Elephant#Trunk, trunk and teeth ...
by McKenna and Bell (1997), Lambert and Shoshani (1998), Kalb and Froelich (1995), and Shoshani and Tassy (2005). Hautier et al. (2009) assigned the genus to the subfamily Anancinae within Gomphotheriidae. Recently ''Anancus'' along with other tetralophodont gomphotheres have been removed from Gomphotheridae, and are now regarded as members of
Elephantoidea
Elephantoidea is a taxonomic group that contains the elephants as well as their closest extinct relatives. The following cladogram shows the relationships among elephantoids, based on hyoid
The hyoid bone (lingual bone or tongue-bone) () is a h ...
instead.
Description
''Anancus'' stood around tall, with a weight up to 5 tons, and closely resembled a modern
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...
. Aside from its somewhat shorter legs, ''Anancus'' was also different from modern elephants in that its tusks were much longer, up to in length.
The tusks were possibly defense weapons, not unlike elephants of today. The
molars were not composed of lamellae like those of true elephants, but had
cusp
A cusp is the most pointed end of a curve. It often refers to cusp (anatomy), a pointed structure on a tooth.
Cusp or CUSP may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Cusp (singularity), a singular point of a curve
* Cusp catastrophe, a branch of bifurca ...
s, like
tapir
Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inhabit ...
and pig molars; ''Anancus'' appears to have lived in forests, eating from trees and shrubs and digging out tubers and roots in the forest floor, and it died out when these forests gave way to
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
s.
[ Stable carbon isotopes from Ethiopian ''Anancus'' tooth enamel 3–4 million years ago suggest that it grazed on ]C4 plants
carbon fixation or the Hatch–Slack pathway is one of three known photosynthetic processes of carbon fixation in plants. It owes the names to the 1960's discovery by Marshall Davidson Hatch and Charles Roger Slack that some plants, when suppl ...
.
Evolutionary history
The oldest known species of ''Anancus'' is ''A. perimensis'', with fossils known from the Tortonian
The Tortonian is in the geologic time scale an age or stage of the late Miocene that spans the time between 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma and 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Serravallian and is followed by the Messinian.
The Torton ...
~ 8.5 million years ago Siwalik Hills
The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the India ...
of Pakistan. ''Anancus'' entered Europe approximately 7.2 million years ago and around 7 million years ago dispersed into Africa. ''Anancus'' first appeared in China around 6 million years ago (''A. sinensis''). ''Anancus'' disappeared from Asia and Africa around the end of the Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[Dental microwear Dental microwear analysis is a method to infer diet and behavior in extinct animals, especially in fossil specimens. Typically, the patterns of pits and scratches on the occlusal or buccal surface of the enamel are compared with patterns observed ...](_blank)
analysis of ''Anancus arvernensis'' generally suggests that it was a browser, consuming twigs, bark, seeds and fruit.
Gallery
File: Anancus jaw.JPG, The jaw of ''Anancus'', an extinct relative of the elephant
File: Gomphotheriidae - Anancus arvernensis-000.JPG, Jaw of ''Anancus arvernensis'' from Quaternary of Italy
File:Anancus arvernensis .JPG, Molar of ''Anancus arvernensis''
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q138102
Elephantoidea
Prehistoric placental genera
Miocene proboscideans
Pliocene proboscideans
Pleistocene proboscideans
Miocene genus first appearances
Pleistocene genus extinctions
Miocene mammals of Africa
Pliocene mammals of Africa
Pleistocene mammals of Africa
Miocene mammals of Asia
Pleistocene mammals of Asia
Pliocene mammals of Asia
Miocene mammals of Europe
Pliocene mammals of Europe
Pleistocene mammals of Europe
Fossil taxa described in 1855