Elephants spread across the world
Gomphotheres, mastodons and deinotheres leave Africa and colonise Eurasia and the Americas.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 13 million years
- Known to
- ± 1 million years
- Era
- Miocene, Cenozoic
Once the land bridge is open, proboscideans radiate spectacularly. Gomphotheres with four tusks spread across Eurasia and eventually reach North and then South America; mammutids become the mastodons of the northern forests; and deinotheres, with tusks curving downward from the lower jaw, remain in Africa and southern Eurasia. At their peak, proboscideans occupy every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Two species survive today.