Miomastodon revalidated

[DD1991]

A new paper on  extinct elephants is available at this link:

 

Shi-Qi Wang; Xiao-Xiao Zhang; Chun-Xiao Li, 2020. Reappraisal of Serridentinus gobiensis Osborn & Granger and Miomastodon tongxinensis Chen: the validity of Miomastodon. Vertebrata PalAsiatica in press. doi:10.19615/j.cnki.1000-3118.200310.

 

It's quite interesting to see Miomastodon resurrected from synonymy with Zygolophodon because given that Zygolophodon aegyptensis is known from early Miocene deposits in Egypt, Miomastodon may have evolved from a population of Zygolophodon in central Asia that evolved bunodont cheek teeth, and then entered North America from East Asia in the middle Miocene.