National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Photo: Elephant "Missing Link" Fossil Found, Study Says


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

An artist's rendering (top) shows two species of elephant ancestors: A new species dubbed Eritreum melakeghebrekristosi, which lived about 27 million years ago, was tiny compared to Gomphotherium angustidens, which flourished between 12 and 2 million years ago.

A fossil jawbone (bottom) of E. melakeghebrekristosi recently found in Africa might represent a "missing link" between elephants and their ancestors.

Illustration by Gary H. Marchant; fossil images courtesy PNAS