Gomphotherium aff. steinheimense (Fundort) - Ebing, Lk. Mühldorf am Inn, Bayern, D - Paleontology and Fossils on Waymarking.com

Ein vollständiges Skelett eines Gomphotheriums wurde 1971 im Sand am Ufer des Inns südlich von Mühldorf gefunden. Es ist etwa 10 Millionen Jahre alt. Nach seinem Fundort wird das Tier als „Mühldorfer Urelefant“ bezeichnet. Das Originalskelett des Gomphotheriums wird in der Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie in München aufbewahrt, ein Abguss steht im Senckenbergmuseum. Bei dem Fund handelt es sich um ein männliches Individuum, das ca. 50 Jahre alt war. Pathologisch-anatomische Veränderungen am rechten Hinterfuß deuten auf eine ernsthafte Verletzung des Tieres in seinen Jugendjahren hin. Das Fossil wurde systematisch in die Gruppe Gomphotherium aff. steinheimense gestellt. In Mettmach im Innviertel am Rande des Kobernaußerwaldes wurde in den 1960er Jahren der Stoßzahn eines Gomphotheriums gefunden, ebenso 1990 im Braunkohle-Tagebau Hambach im Rheinland.

The genus emigrated into Asia, Europe and Africa after a drop in sea level (probably during the Tortonian epoch) allowed them to cross over. It survived into the Pliocene, and its remains have been found in Chile, France, Germany, Austria, Kansas, Tennessee, Pakistan, Kenya and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Gomphotherium stood around 3 metres (9.8 ft) high with an estimated weight of 4-5 tons, and bore a strong resemblance to a modern elephant. However, it had four tusks; two on the upper jaw and two on the elongated lower jaw. The lower tusks are parallel and shaped like a shovel and were probably used for digging up food from mud. Unlike modern elephants, the upper tusks were covered by a layer of enamel. Compared to elephants, the skull was more elongated and low, indicating that the animal had a short trunk, rather like a tapir's. These animals probably lived in swamps or near lakes, using their tusks to dig or scrape up aquatic vegetation. In comparison to earlier proboscids, Gomphotherium had far fewer molars; the remaining ones had high ridges to expand their grinding surface. Gomphotherium inhabited dry wooded regions near lakes.

A complete skeleton of Gomphotherium has been found at Mühldorf, Germany, in 1971.

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