Around 20 million years ago, proboscideans, the ancestors of modern elephants, began expanding from Africa and Arabia into Eurasia and the Americas. Early species lacked the long, flexible trunks we associate with today’s elephants and instead had elongated lower jaws with additional tusks. These long-jawed proboscideans thrived in diverse habitats until trunked species like mammoths and mastodons replaced them due to environmental changes.
Related Posts
Faced with dwindling bee colonies, scientists are arming queens with robots and smart hives
Farshad Arvin, Durham University; Martin Stefanec, University of Graz, and Tomas Krajnik, Czech Technical University Be it the…
Volcanic Eruptions In Triassic “Mega Monsoon” Kickstarted the Age of Dinosaurs
The Triassic Period, being the opening page of the Mesozoic Era which spanned from 251 million years ago…
A ‘recently discovered’ whale feeding strategy has turned up in 2,000-year-old texts about fearsome sea monsters
A Bryde’s whale. worldclassphoto/Shutterstock John McCarthy, Flinders University; Erin Sebo, Flinders University, and Matthew Firth, Flinders University In…
Scientists develop surfaces that trick bacteria, thwarting deadly biofilms
A breakthrough in material science reveals how microscopic surface textures can trick bacteria into self-lubricating, preventing the formation of dangerous biofilms on medical plastics.