Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs and dispersed into South America during the Pleistocene following the Great American Interchange. Gomphotheriidae in its broadest sense is probably paraphyletic with respect to Elephantidae, which contains modern elephants. While most famous forms such as Gomphotherium had long lower jaws with tusks, which is the ancestral condition for the group, after these forms became extinct, the surviving gomphotheres had short jaws with either vestigial or no lower tusks (brevirostrine), looking very similar to modern elephants, an example of parallel evolution. By the end of the Early Pleistocene, gomphotheres became extinct in Afro-Eurasia, with the last two genera, Cuvieronius persisting in southern North and Central America and Notiomastodon having a wide range over most of South America until the end of the Pleistocene, when they became extinct following the arrival of humans. The name "gomphothere" comes from Ancient Greek (), "peg, pin; wedge; joint" plus (), "beast". Evolutionary history The relationships of gomphotheres to other proboscideans remain unclear, and to some extent the grouping is a wastebasket taxon to refer to proboscideans that cannot be assigned to other groups. Gomphotheres originated in Africa during the Miocene, and arrived in Eurasia after the connection of Africa and Eurasia during the Early Miocene around 19 million years ago, in what is termed the "Proboscidean Datum Event". Gomphotherium arrived in North America around 16 million years ago. Notiomastodon and Cuvieronius dispersed into South America after 2 million years ago as part of the Great American Biotic Interchange due to the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. The last known gomphothere native to Eurasia was Sinomastodon, which became extinct at the end of the Early Pleistocene. Description Gomphotheres differed from elephants in their tooth structure, particularly the chewing surfaces on the molar teeth. The earlier species had four tusks, and their retracted facial and nasal bones prompted paleontologists to believe that gomphotheres had elephant-like trunks. Taxonomy Both the genus Gomphotherium and family Gomphotheriidae were erected by the German zoologist Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (1807-1892) in 1837. The term gomphothere as historically used (sensu lato) is paraphyletic, containing all proboscideans more derived than mammutids, but less derived than elephantids. The term gomphothere sensu stricto refers specifically to trilophodont gomphotheres.