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Elephant evolution, illustration
Elephant evolution, illustration. Ten species are shown over six geologic time periods from 55 million years ago to the present. The ancestor species is Palaeomastodon (far left, in the Eocene), which evolves into Gomphotherium (in the Oligocene), Primelaphus (in the Miocene) and then Deinotherium (in the Pliocene). This main line leads to Elephas (the Asian elephant) and Loxodonta (the African elephant) in the present (far right). Mammut (the mastodon) and Stegodon evolve in the Oligocene, becoming extinct in the Pleistocene (lower right). Anancus evolves in the Miocene, becoming extinct in the Pliocene (upper right). Mammuthus (the mammoth) evolves in the Pliocene and becomes extinct in the Pleistocene (upper right)., by GARY HINCKS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
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