Gomphotherium

See text Gomphotherium (/ˌɡɒmfəˈθɪəriəm/; "nail beast" for its double set of straight tusks) is an extinct genus of gomphothere proboscidean from the Neogene of Eurasia, Africa and North America.

[3] Oxygen and carbon isotopes from G. productum enamel unearthed in the Port of Entry Pit, Oklahoma reveal it fed predominantly on C3 plants year-round.

[3] Gomphotherium first arrived in North America during the mid-Miocene, approximately 16-15 million years ago,[11] and is suggested to be ancestral to later New World gomphothere genera, such as Cuvieronius, Stegomastodon and Rhynchotherium.

[13] The last European species of Gomphotherium became extinct at the beginning of the Late Miocene, around the start of MN9, approximately 10 million years ago.

[13] The last Gomphotherium species disappeared from North America at the beginning of the Pliocene, approximately 5 million years ago.

Skeletal restoration of G. productum (right) and G. steinheimense (left) compared to a human
Detail of Gomphotherium skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History
Front view of G. productum . Collected from Clarendon , Texas . At the AMNH .