amnhnyc: Happy #FossilFriday! Meet Gomphotherium productum, or the “club beast.” Gomphot
amnhnyc: Happy #FossilFriday! Meet Gomphotherium productum, or the “club beast.” Gomphotherium was a wide-ranging genus; and fossils have been found across Europe, Africa, and Asia. This early relative of elephants lived in Texas about 10 million years ago. Like others in this tall, short-necked group of mammals, it probably used its tusks to scoop up food. Over time, most members of the elephant family became larger, and the number and shape of their tusks varied. Gomphotherium had interlocking upper and lower tusks, but many later elephants had only upper ones. See it up close in the Museum’s Hall of Advanced Mammals! #amnh #NaturalHistory #fossils #elephants #nyc #museumshttps://www.instagram.com/p/CZjts6oLGuE/?utm_medium=tumblr -- source link