[Aztlan] Gomphotheres in the Americas

[Allan Shumaker]

This is a significant discovery for several reasons. A few years ago I corresponded with paleontologist that were of the opinion that gomphotheres went extinct in North America at the start of the Pleistocene. However it is well documented that gomphotheres survived in South America until humans arrived. Dillehay had evidence for gomphotheres at Monte Verde.

Even though the specimen found at 'End of the Earth' only had 2 tusks, most others had 4 tusks. 

During the 1950s Juan Armenta Camacho found a fossilized engraved mammoth pelvis on the shore of the Valsequillo Reservoir in Mexico. The engravings included several examples of extinct Pleistocene fauna and one was a 4 tusked probiscan.

Allan Shumaker