Abstract
The "Yanghecun specimen", a proboscidean specimen represented by a mandible from Miocene of China and previously described as Gomphotheriidae, is here reviewed and described as a new genus and species of Mammutidae: Sinomammut tobieni. This taxon is a longirostrine mastodon, lacking lower tusks, and bearing a wide last molar with oblique and non-inflated lophids, broad transverse interlophids, and yoke-like wear figures. Phylogenetic analysis of Mammutidae based on dental and mandibular features recovered S. tobieni as sister group of the mastodon Mammut. The longirostrine condition and the well-developed lower incisors seem to be primitive for Mammutidae, while the brevirostry is the derived condition, probably emerged during the middle Miocene (12-11 Mya). However, two derived conditions are recognized to the lower tusks: the absence of lower tusks (S. tobieni) and the occasional presence of vestigial lower tusks (Mammut).
Highlights
The fossil record of the Proboscidea in China is abundant, its diversity is still being discovered, as the temporal distribution range of several genera (Tobien et al 1986, 1988, Wang and Deng 2011, Wang et al 2012, 2013)
Morphological comparisons were conducted for dental and mandibular specimens of Gomphotheriidae and Mammutidae housed at the collections of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), United States; Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH), United States; and Gansu Industrial Occupational Technology College (GIOTC), China
The specimen GIOTC 0982-9-178 was originally recognized as a member of Gomphotheriidae and more close related to the genus Sinomastodon (Wang et al 2014), the presences of oblique and non-inflated lophids, broad transverse valleys between lophids, and wide m3 with yokelike wear figures securely includes this specimen in family Mammutidae, which has the zygodont cheek dentition as one of its most important diagnostic feature (Tobien 1975)
Summary
The fossil record of the Proboscidea in China is abundant, its diversity is still being discovered, as the temporal distribution range of several genera (Tobien et al 1986, 1988, Wang and Deng 2011, Wang et al 2012, 2013). A very fragmentary fossil of a proboscidean with. An almost complete proboscidean mandible was discovered in a field work, the “Yanghecun specimen”. A detailed analysis of the “Yanghecun specimen” revealed several morphological features that preclude its recognition as a member of Gomphotheriidae. Instead, these features suggest that the “Yanghecun specimen” is probably a new taxon of Mammutidae
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