Protanancus is an Extinction genus of Amebelodontidae Proboscidea native to Africa and Asia during the Miocene epoch. The generic name is derived from the unrelated Anancus, and the Greek prōtos "first".[ Fossilworks: Protanancus. fossilworks.org. Retrieved 2021-01-17.][ Markov, G. N., & Vergiev, S. (2010). First report of cf. Protanancus (mammalia, proboscidea, amebelodontidae) from Europe. Geodiversitas, 32(3), 493-501.]
Description
Protanancus, about the size of a present-day
Asian elephant, was presumably quite similar to the related proboscidean
Platybelodon. Like
Platybelodon, the mandibular
symphysis of this species was narrow and elongated, and possessed two flattened tusks. Investigation of the structure of the lower tusks revealed that those of
Protanancus were concentric, like those of most proboscideans (including present-day proboscideans), while those of
Platybelodon possessed dentinal tubules.
Classification
Protanancus was described by Arambourg in 1945.
[Arambourg, C; 1945. Anancus osiris, un mastodonte nouveau du Pliocène inférieur d’Egypte. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 15:479–495.] A few species are known, including the South Asian
P. chinjiensis and the African
P. macinnesi. The most recent remains are African and those from the
area. This animal is thought to have evolved from
Gomphotherium, and developed over millions of years to give rise to other similar animals such as
Platybelodon or
Amebelodon.
Protanancus is also related to
Archaeobelodon. Other fossils have been found in
Bulgaria.
Paleobiology
mesowear of
P. macinnesi from Maboko in
Kenya suggests that it was a browser that foraged in
Shrubland and
Woodland.
of
Protanancus in
China have been found in the same locations as those of
Platybelodon. However, it appears that after living together for at least two million years,
Platybelodon survived and
Protanancus became extinct. Only in the area where
Platybelodon was not present (the Siwalik) did
Protanancus still thrive. The shape of the jaws of the two animals indicates that they had the same lifestyle, with shovel-like tusks that could pick up plant material. However, the tubular structure of
Platybelodon's tusks indicates that this animal bore greater loads and more abrasion than
Protanancus.
[Shiqi Wang, Tao Deng, Tao Tang, Guangpu Xie, Yuguang Zhang, and Duoqing Wang. (2015) Evolution of Protanancus (Proboscidea, Mammalia) in East Asia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35:1.]
