''Konobelodon'' is an extinct genus of amebelodont from southern Europe, China, and North America.

Taxonomy

''Konobelodon'' was originally coined as a subgenus of ''

Amebelodon ''Amebelodon'' is a genus of extinct proboscidean belonging to Amebelodontidae (the so-called shovel-tuskers), a group of proboscideans related to the modern elephants and their close relative the mammoth. The most striking attribute of this ani ...

'', and was subsequently elevated to full generic rank in a 2014 re-appraisal of ''"Mastodon" atticus''. Within Amebelodontinae, ''Konobelodon'' is closely related to ''

Platybelodon ''Platybelodon'' ("flat-spear tusk") is an extinct genus of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to modern-day elephants. Species lived during the middle Miocene Epoch in Africa, Asia and the Caucasus. Palaeobiology ''Platybelodon'' w ...

'' and '' Torynobelodon''. The genus ''Konobelodon'' likely originated in eastern Eurasia, with ''K. robustus'' being known from the Liushu Formation in the

Gansu Province Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibeta ...

of China. 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.

Description

As shovel-tusked amebelodonts, ''Konobelodon'' has two pairs of

tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with pigs and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors. Tusks share ...

s, one growing from the upper jaw and a second from the lower. ''K. robustus'' is estimated to have had a body mass between 2802 and 7367 kg, making it generally larger than gomphotheres on account of its thicker limb bones. Its standing posture, however, was not likely as column-like as that of extant

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 ...

s and American brevirostrine gomphotheres.

Cultural significance

Possible influence on Greek myths

''Konobelodon'' is among the fossil proboscideans represented in the Miocene-age deposits on the Greek island of

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...

, alongside ''

Deinotherium ''Deinotherium'' was a large elephant-like proboscidean that appeared in the Middle Miocene and survived until the Early Pleistocene. Although superficially resembling modern elephants, they had notably more flexible necks, limbs adapted to a mo ...

'' and ''

Choerolophodon ''Choerolophodon'' is an extinct genus of proboscidean that lived during the Miocene of Eurasia and Africa. Fossils of ''Choerolophodon'' have been found in Africa, Southeast Europe, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and China. ''Choer ...

.''

Adrienne Mayor Adrienne Mayor (born 1946) is a historian of ancient science and a classical folklorist. Mayor specializes in ancient history and the study of "folk science", or how pre-scientific cultures interpreted data about the natural world, and how these ...

and Nikos Solounias have speculated that these taxa may have influenced local legends of the island's deep history, serving as inspiration for gigantic mythical monsters called Neades, creatures whose voices were believed to cause earthquakes. Mayor and Solounias base their speculation on the fact that the fossils on Samos are found near a major fault zone, suggesting that ancient Greeks may have interpreted the presence of their skeletal remains as being associated with past seismic activity in the region. Ancient sources attest that the bones of these creatures were put on display and that their stories inspired local expressions such as "They shout louder than the Neades!" Mayor and Solounias also suggest that these fossils may have inspired another story of the god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

waging war with the Amazons on Samos, drawing similar comparisons between the island's geology and a description by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

of this mythic fight. In this story, their skeletal remains are interpreted as belonging to the victims of this ancient war, who like the Neades were able to rend the earth when they cried out in death. They argue that ancient residents of Samos were aware of both the island's fossil record and its geology, and that these stories were early attempts to make sense of the two.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q25095366 Amebelodontidae Miocene proboscideans Miocene mammals of North America Miocene mammals of Asia Miocene mammals of Europe Prehistoric placental genera Tortonian first appearances Messinian extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1990