stegodon

The name Stegodon is derived from the Greek words στεγειν stegein ("to cover") and οδον odοn ("tooth") because of the distinctive ridges on the animal's molars. In the past, stegodonts were believed to be the ancestors of elephants and mammoths, but it is currently believed that they have no modern descendants. Stegodon is derived from the genus Stegolophodon, an extinct genus known from the Miocene of Asia. Stegodon is considered to be a sister group of the mammoth, as well as the elephants.

Stegodonts lived in large parts of Asia during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Some Stegodon species were among the largest of all Proboscidea, with adults being 13 feet high at the shoulder, 26 feet long, with 10 feet long nearly straight tusks. In some individuals, the tusks were so close together that the trunk probably did not lie between them but instead draped over.