Eubelodon

Eubelodon is an extinct genus of gomphothere which lived in North America during the Miocene Epoch. It contains a single species: Eubelodon morrilli.

Description

Eubelodon is considered to be a trilophodont gomphothere. It has the highly unusual combination of retaining a long lower jaw, but having lost the lower tusks, a combination only shared with fellow North American gomphothere Gnathabelodon and the choerolophodontid ''Choerolophodon.''

Fossil distribution

Fossils are restricted to what is now the Great Plains of the United States. Remains were found in the Poison Ivy Quarry, Antelope, Brown County, Nebraska, and Tripp County, South Dakota.

Taxonomy

Eubelodon was named by Erwin Hinckly Barbour in 1914. It was synonymized subjectively with Trilophodon by Osborn in 1918 and again by Tobien in 1973 with Gomphotherium.
It was assigned to Gomphotheriidae by Erwin Barbour in 1914. It was then assigned to Rhynchotheriinae by McKenna and Bell in 1997, Carroll in 1988, Shoshani and Tassy in 1996, Lambert and Shoshani in 1998, and Shoshani and Tassy in 2005.
A 2016 study assigned it to Gomphotheriidae. Cladogram showing its phylogenetic position according to Mothé et al. 2016:
Some other studies have assigned it to Amebelodontidae. Cladogram after Li et al. 2023: