Platybelodon graingeri

Geological Time: Pleistocene

Class Mammalia, Order Proboscidea, Family Gomphotheridae

Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch): Fossil is 130 mm long by 60 mm wide by 60 mm high

Fossil Site: Gianhe Beds, Gansu Province, China

Code: PBT02

Price: Sold

Description: This tooth comes from an elephant-like mammal colloquially termed a “shovel-tiusked” or shovel-jawed mastodon”. It is not a true mastodon, but a gomphothere. The lower tusks were flattened and extended out like large shovels (see artist’s restoration). It was once thought to have used its shovel jaw to scoop of aquatic plants in marshes, but wear to the molars has led other researchers to postulate that it fed on bark and foliage that it sheared off of trees and shrubs. This one is from an older adult, and shows extensive wear not likely to have come from chewing on soft marsh vegetation.