[2][3][4] The species Amebelodon floridanus was relatively small, a little smaller than living elephants, and was common in fossil sites from 9 to 8 million years ago.

There has long been an assumption that these lower tusks were actually used as shovels by the animal during feeding, presumably to dig up water plants.

However, an analysis of wear patterns has shown that these lower tusks were most likely used in a variety of ways in addition to shoveling, including scraping bark from trees.

For reasons that are not clearly explained in the literature, Amebelodon is usually portrayed with a short, flap-like trunk (this is true of the associated picture).

However, considerable evidence indicates that Amebelodon actually had a long, flexible trunk very much like that found in modern elephants, and that it probably was important for feeding, drinking, etc.