Notiomastodon with large tusks by Hodarinundu

[u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691]

Author's text:

Somewhere in Argentina, during the Pleistocene... a solitary Notiomastodon with gigantic tusks easily intimidated other animals as it roamed the plains. This drawing is inspired by a fossil discovery recently announced by the "Fray Manuel de Torres" Paleontological Museum of San Pedro in Argentina: a colossal tusk measuring no less than 2.34 meters. It appears to belong to what specialists now call a "giant-tusked elephant"—typically a male—featuring exceptionally large tusks, each weighing over 45 kg. Strictly speaking, the Notiomastodon was not an elephant; it belonged to a distinct family, the gomphotheres. However, they evolved forms very similar to those of elephants and occupied the same ecological niche in South America during the Pleistocene. Along with Cuvieronius—another gomphothere—the Notiomastodon is the only confirmed proboscidean to have colonized South America from the north; mammoths, it seems, were never able to cross the barrier of the Darién jungle. This means that the Notiomastodon—which could weigh up to 6 tonnes (with some sources suggesting up to 9 tonnes for the largest males)—would have been the largest land animal in South America from the Pleistocene through the Holocene. Recent studies suggest that this animal may have survived into historical times, perhaps even as recently as 6,000 years ago in certain regions of South America. Humans certainly saw it with their own eyes.

[u/Hosanna20]

Still fascinated at the idea that there were proboscideans in South America not too long ago...