Sinomastodon

Taxobox
name = "Sinomastodon"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Proboscidea
familia = Gomphotheriidae
genus = "Sinomastodon"
genus_authority = Tobien "et al.", 1986
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "S. intermedius" Tobien "et al.", 1986
* "S. hanjiangensis" Tang et Zong, 1987
* "S. sendaicus" (Matsumoto, 1924)
* "S. bumiajuensis" (Van der Maarel, 1932)

"Sinomastodon" ("Chinese Mastodont") is an extinct genus of Proboscidea (family Gomphotheriidae), from the Late Miocene to the Early Pleistocene deposits of south-east Asia (China, Japan, Indonesia).

The animal was very similar to modern elephants with size ranging from 3.6 to 5.3 m. Several species are known from China, the best known being "S. hanjiangensis" from the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of the Shanxi province. It is known from an incomplete skeleton of an adult (measuring 5.3 m) including maxilla, mandibles, teeth, tusks and other materials have been discovered. The Japanese species "S. sendaicus" described in 1924 from dentary materials from Pliocene deposits has been ascribed to the genus, as well as the species "S. bumiajuensis" (formerly "Tetralophodon") from the late Pliocene of Java.

References

* Tobien, H., Chen, G.F., and Li, Y.Q., 1986; Mastodons (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the LateNeogene and Early Pleistocene of the People’s Republic of China. Part I, HistoricalAccount. Mainzer geowiss, mitt., 15, pp. 119-181.