Mammuthus africanavus (literally, "African ancestor mammoth") is a species of mammoth known from remains found in Central and North Africa, spanning from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene, with remains having been found in Chad, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. It is distinguished from the earlier Mammuthus subplanifrons by having a higher number of ridges/lamellae on the teeth (around 9-10 on the third molars), which display a greater parallelity, with the molars being more hypsodont (high crowned). A skull of an adult male is known from Garet et Tir, Algeria, dating to the Late Pliocene, which has been described as similar to that of the early Eurasian mammoth species Mammuthus meridionalis, though parts of the skull are damaged/distorted. The oldest specimens date to around 3.5-3 million years ago, while the youngest specimen dates to around 2.32-2 million years ago.[1]
| Mammuthus africanavus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Molar found in Tunisia | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | Elephantidae |
| Genus: | †Mammuthus |
| Species: | †M. africanavus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Mammuthus africanavus (Arambourg, 1952)
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References edit
- ^ Sanders, William J. (2023-07-07). Evolution and Fossil Record of African Proboscidea (1 ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 245, 263–266. doi:10.1201/b20016. ISBN 978-1-315-11891-8.
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