Safari Prehistoric Life Amebelodon Model
Safari, the US-based model makers, may be well known for their dinosaur models, the Carnegie Collectibles series, for example, but they also make a range of prehistoric mammal models. Under the series title “Prehistoric Life”, Safari offers a variety of prehistoric mammals. There are the usual models that you would expect from a number of prehistoric mammal models, a Smilodon (Saber Tooth Cat), a Megatherium (Giant Sloth), and a Woolly Mammoth. However, this set includes another model of elephant: Amebelodon.
Amebelodon was a member of the Gomphotheriidae (primitive elephants), although we are familiar with today’s African and Indian elephants, these extant species are not representative of the entire elephant family, as these herbivores were once widespread with various genera that They are found in Europe and America, as well as Africa and Asia. In contrast to today’s elephants, Amebelodon had two pairs of tusks, a set of pointed tusks on the upper jaw, and a rare pair of shovel-shaped tusks projecting from the lower jaw. It is from these fangs located in the jaws that Amebelodon receives its name “spade dart tooth”.
Fossils of this type of elephant are associated with deposits from the Upper Miocene and date to between 9 and 6 million years ago. Perhaps the best studied species, and the species we believe the Safari model is based on is Amebelodon fricki,an elephant whose fossils have been found in the United States (Nebraska and Kansas). Other members of the genus Amebelodon are known to have lived in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Amebelodon fricki – A prehistoric elephant from the late Miocene
A. fricki it was typical of the genus Amebelodont. Mature males were approximately three meters tall at the shoulders and could grow to lengths in excess of 5 meters. Although the lack of a complete fossil skeleton makes accurate calculation of body mass difficult, it has been estimated that Amebelodon fricki It probably weighed about 3 tons, making it roughly the same size as a modern Indian bull elephant. This particular species was named and described in 1927 by the eminent American scientist and academic Erwin Hinckley Barbour.
Barbour showed great interest in paleontological discoveries in North America and it was the discovery of some partial skull material in Nebraska that allowed him to prepare a paper on this prehistoric mammal. The skull remains contained fossils of the tusks and it was from them that Barbour was able to make a formal scientific description. The tusks of prehistoric elephants tend to be quite well preserved. They are made up of the same substance that our own teeth are made of: enamel. Under the right conditions and circumstances, enamel can easily permineralize and be preserved as a fossil material.
The fangs on the lower jaw are extremely distinctive, as the name suggests, resembling a workman’s shovel. To point out this similarity, it was quite common for scientific papers on Amebelodon published in the 1930s to contain images of various blades and shovels alongside the fossilized lower jaw and fangs so that readers could make their own comparison.
These modified fangs were likely used for food. Amebelodons are known to have been widely distributed and lived in a variety of habitats from swampy areas, forests, forested regions, and more open areas such as grassland plains. These large animals were probably not picky eaters and used their tusks in various ways, perhaps to help “lift” aquatic plants from the margins of lakes and ponds, to scrape the bark off trees and use them for digging in. the soil for tubers and roots. .
Amebelodon – Safari Prehistoric Life Model
The Amebelodon model, from Safari, is a welcome member of their Prehistoric Life model range. It is just over 17 centimeters long and approximately 3 inches tall at the shoulder. The body is painted a dull gray, similar to the color of the African elephants of the plains and grasslands of Tanzania, Botswana and Kenya today. The skin tone of the body is very well detailed and the cross-shaped markings on the back and on the flanks give the model a very realistic look. The muscle tone of the shoulder is well defined, but no hump is shown at the back of the neck. Scientists believe that some types of early elephants stored fat reserves in a special gland located on the shoulders and neck. Although the traces of such an organ in most prehistoric elephants is difficult to confirm due to the paucity of fossil records, Amebelodonts may have developed such an organ to help them survive for long periods in which food Vegetable was particularly lacking.
The model is beautifully painted with the eyes and the large trunk features displayed in great detail. The model poses with her trunk raised and her mouth open, revealing the strange shovel-shaped lower fangs in all their glory. The fangs themselves have a realistic yellowish hue. The feet show the thick pads that extend to support the weight of this animal while walking and the model has the appearance of being animated, as if the animal was captured in motion, perhaps walking carefully on soft, muddy ground.
To complete the model, the short tail has a tuft of black hair at the end. As far as we know, there is no evidence of what the tail of Amebelodon fricki has been preserved, the tail is simply modeled on the tail of an existing present-day African elephant. These animals are believed to have relatively short ears. It would not have been necessary to develop large ears to help achieve heat loss and cooling in the temperature habitats where Amebelodonts were believed to live. This is the reason for the disproportionately small ears on the Safari model.
All in all, this is a very attractive prehistoric animal model, one that represents a more unusual member of the elephant family and is very nice to see retained in the Safari Prehistoric Life model series.