The name "gomphothere" comes from Ancient Greek γόμφος (gómphos), "peg, pin; wedge; joint" plus θηρίον (theríon), "beast".

[3] The lower tusks and long lower jaws of primitive gomphotheres were likely used for cutting vegetation, with a secondary contribution in acquiring food using the trunk, while brevirostrine gomphotheres relied primarily on their trunks to acquire food similar to modern elephants.

[9] The limb bones of gomphotheres like those of mammutids are generally more robust than elephantids, with the legs also tending to be proportionally shorter.

[17] Analysis of the tusks of a male Notiomastodon individual suggest that it underwent musth, similar to modern elephants.

[19] Gomphotheres originated in Afro-Arabia during the mid-Oligocene, with remains from the Shumaysi Formation in Saudi Arabia dating to around 29-28 million years ago.

Gomphotherium arrived in North America around 16 million years ago,[22] and is suggested to be the ancestor of later New World gomphothere genera.

[27] The New World gomphothere genera Notiomastodon and Cuvieronius dispersed into South America during the Pleistocene, around or after 2.5 million years ago as part of the Great American Biotic Interchange due to the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, becoming widespread across the continent.

[32] From the latter half of the Early Pleistocene onwards, gomphotheres were extirpated from most of North America, likely due to competition with mammoths and mastodons.

[25][33] The morphology of elephantid molars being more efficient than gomphotheres in consuming grass, which became more abundant during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs.