Tetralophodon

Tetralophodon ("four-ridged tooth") is an extinct genus of "tetralophodont gomphothere" belonging to the superfamily Elephantoidea, known from the Miocene of Afro-Eurasia.

[7] A large individual of the European species T. longirostris is suggested to have been 3.45 metres (11.3 ft) tall at the shoulder and up to 10 tonnes in weight.

[12] The North American species, T. campester and T. fricki, were moved to the genus Pediolophodon in 2007, which is suggested to be unrelated to Tetralophodon, but instead representing parallel evolution.

Specimens of Tetralophodon from the late Miocene of East Africa have been suggested to be browsers and mixed feeders based on mesowear analysis.

Analysis of tooth wear suggest that these individuals had developed proal movement (back to front motion) in the lower jaws, akin to that used by modern elephants, but different from that used by earlier gomphotheres.

Restoration
Fossil skull and tusks of T. longirostris , from Ballestar, Spain at the Museu Geològic del Seminari de Barcelona, Barcelona