Elephants: Order Proboscidea

The Proboscidea is a small order of mammals with only contain one living family - the Elephantidae.The family contains only three living species: the African Bush Elephant, African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant), although, it is argued that the African Bush Elephant and the African Forest Elephant should in fact just be considered sub-species.

The order Proboscidea also contains several extinct species in two families: the Gomphotheriidae and the Mammutidae. These include the mastodons. Interestingly, the well known mammoths (genus Mammuthus) are actually now extinct members of the same family as today's living elephants, and not in the extinct family Mammutidae despite its similar name. The Mammutidae includes a type of mastodon that lived during the same time as the mammoth and also spread to North America around the same time during the Ice Age.More info coming soon...