[1][2] Recently, some authors have excluded Anancus along with other tetralophodont gomphotheres from Gomphotheriidae, and regarded them as members of Elephantoidea instead.

[16] Anancus osiris from the Pliocene of North Africa is suggested to have been a mixed feeder with a large grass intake based on microwear.

[8][6] The oldest known species of Anancus is A. perimensis, with fossils known from the Tortonian ~ 8.5 million years ago Siwalik Hills of Pakistan.

Anancus disappeared from Asia and Africa around the end of the Pliocene, approximately 2.6 million years ago.

[11] The extinction of Anancus in Africa has been attributed to competitive exclusion by elephantids, whose molar teeth were more efficient at processing grass.