The fossil choppers are about the same size as the teeth of paleomastodons, a related family that flourished about 35 million years ago.
But the teeth are smaller than all known gomphotheres, four-tusked proboscideans that lived between 12 and 2 million years ago, and are smaller than those of mastodons, another elephantlike group that disappeared about ten thousand years ago.
Based on the size of the jaw, the new species probably looked very much like a modern elephant, but with a shorter trunk in proportion to its body size and four tusks instead of two.
The creature stood a little over 4 feet (1.2 meters) at the shoulder, significantly smaller than present-day elephants, which average 10.5 feet (3.2 meters) tall at the shoulder.
"It is more efficient to be bigger," Shoshani said. "You have fewer enemies, and you can eat more efficiently.
"The first proboscideans were the size of dogs, and they've become larger and larger" as they have evolved, he continued.
"E. melakeghebrekristosi is intermediate in size, in physical characteristics, and by date," he said. "All these things make it a missing link."
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