Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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This elephant relative lived about 10 million years ago in what is now Texas. Meet Gompotherium productum, or "the club beast." Unlike modern elephants which have only upper tusks, Gompotherium had interlocking upper and lower tusks–which it probably used to scoop up food. Over time, as many members of the elephant family became larger, the number and shape of their tusks varied. Gompotherium was a wide-ranging genus: Its fossils have also been found across Europe, Africa, and Asia.
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