Proboscidea (Elephants)

Abstract Proboscidea – the living elephants and their fossil relatives – are of ungulate origin, dating to the late Palaeocene of northeast Africa and spread to all continents except Australia and Antarctica. The earliest proboscideans were characterized by the presence of a prominent and hooked coracoid process on the scapula (shoulder blade), and a medial process on the astragalus (ankle bone). Advanced proboscideans have pneumatized bones in the cranium, a developed proboscis (trunk), horizontal (rather than the usual vertical) tooth displacement, tusks that exhibit Schreger pattern in a cross‐section, and possess a temporal gland. The estimated number of fossil and living species and subspecies of proboscideans is 165, of which only three are alive today.