Eozygodon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammal}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = Early Miocene
~{{fossil range|23|16}}

| image = Eozygodon_molars.png

| image_caption = Occlusal view of the third lower molar (m3) of E. morotoensis

| genus = Eozygodon

| parent_authority = Tassy & Pickford, 1983

| species = morotoensis

| authority = Tassy & Pickford, 1983

}}

Eozygodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean in the family Mammutidae. It is a monotypic genus that contains the single species E. morotoensis, named in 1983.Tassy, P. and Pickford, M. (1983). Un nouveau mastodonte zygolophodonte (Proboscidea, Mammalia) dans le Miocène Inférieur d'Afrique orientale: Systématique et paléoenvironnement. Géobios 16: 53-77. It is known from the Early Miocene of Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Namibia){{cite book |author=William J. Sanders |author2=Emmanuel Gheerbrant |author3=John M. Harris |author4=Haruo Saegusa |author5=Cyrille Delmer |editor-first1=Lars |editor-last1=Werdelin|editor-first2=William Joseph|editor-last2= Sanders|title=Cenozoic Mammals of Africa|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6c8lDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA186|year=2010|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25721-4|pages=186–|chapter=Proboscidea}} and well as possibly the Middle Miocene of China.{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Xiaoxiao |last2=Wang |first2=Shiqi |date=2021-09-02 |title=First report of Eozygodon (Mammutidae, Proboscidea) in Eurasia |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2020.1723579 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=9 |pages=1661–1670 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2020.1723579 |bibcode=2021HBio...33.1661Z |s2cid=213467027 |issn=0891-2963}} It is considered a primitive member of the family, retaining a long lower jaw (longirostrine) with lower tusks.{{Cite journal |last1=Mothé |first1=Dimila |last2=Avilla |first2=Leonardo S. |last3=Zhao |first3=Desi |last4=Xie |first4=Guangpu |last5=Sun |first5=Boyang |last6=Mothé |first6=Dimila |last7=Avilla |first7=Leonardo S. |last8=Zhao |first8=Desi |last9=Xie |first9=Guangpu |year=2016 |title=A new Mammutidae (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Gansu Province, China |journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=65–74 |doi=10.1590/0001-3765201520150261 |issn=0001-3765 |pmid=26839998 |doi-access=free}} The upper tusks are small, and are only slightly divergent from each other. The skull of the young adult (around 24-26 years old in African elephant tooth wear equivalent years) AM 02 from Auchas, Namibia, was around the size of that of a 10 year old American mastodon,Tassy, P. 2018. [http://institutions.ville-geneve.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/mhn/documents/Museum/Revue_de_Paleo/593-607_Tassy.pdf Remarks on the cranium of Eozygodon morotoensis (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the early Miocene of Africa, and the question of the monophyly of Elephantimorpha]. Revue Paléobiologie, Genève, 37:593-607. around {{Convert|60|cm|ft}} in maximum length.M. Pickford "[http://the-eis.com/elibrary/sites/default/files/downloads/literature/New%20Proboscidea%20from%20the%20Miocene%20strata%20in%20the%20lower%20Orange%20River.pdf New Proboscidea from the Miocene strata of the lower Orange River Valley, Namibia]" Memoir Geological Survey Namibia, 19 (2003), pp. 207-256 Some authors suggest that Eozygodon could be less closely related to other members of Mammutidae than other mammutids are to Elephantida, making Mammutidae as typically defined paraphyletic.