Some authors have argued that horizontal tooth replacement evolved in parallel in mammutids and members of Elephantida (which includes gomphotheres and elephants), though this is uncertain.

[9][10] Mammutids are thought to have had prehensile trunks like those of living elephants, with those of Mammut suggested to have been possibly long enough to reach the ground.

[16] Mammutids are the most basal group within Elephantimorpha, with gomphotheres and other members of Elephantida like amebelodonts being more closely related to elephants.

[20] Phiomia Losodokodon Eozygodon Zygolophodon (ancestral to Mammut) Choerolophodontidae Amebelodontidae (shovel tuskers) "Gomphotheriidae" (paraphyletic, ancestral to Elephantidae) Mammutids originated in Africa during the Late Oligocene, with the oldest genus Losodokodon dating to around 27.5-24 million years ago.

[5] During the late early Miocene, around 16.5 million years ago,[22] a population of Zygolophodon entered North America, giving rise to Mammut.