Eofauna Konobelodon atticus is Coming into Stock

The New Eofauna Konobelodon atticus

The next prehistoric animal model to be added to the Eofauna Scientific Research range is a fabulous model of the ancient elephant Konobelodon atticus, the figure is in 1:35 scale and is Eofauna’s first “shovel-tusker” model.

The figure is scheduled to be in stock at Everything Dinosaur early in 2022 (estimated arrival time at the UK warehouse – February 2022).

Konobelodon atticus

Konobelodon was an enormous amebelodontid, one of the very last of its kind. Several species have been described since the first fossils associated with this genus were studied in the mid-19th century. It is characterised by its pair of huge, flattened tusks in its lower jaw and its extremely long pair of straight tusks in its upper jaw. The model represents Konobelodon atticus, fossils of which were first discovered in Greece (Late Miocene deposits).

Konobelodon atticus was originally named Mastodon atticus by the German palaeontologist and zoologist Johann Andreas Wagner in 1857. The extensive, Miocene-aged deposits at Pikermi on the Attica peninsular of Greece, were discovered by Bavarian soldiers, part of the army of the Bavarian prince Otto, who ruled Greece for thirty years from 1832 until he was deposed in 1862. Fossils of large mammals were exposed on the surface and this attracted German field teams from various institutions and universities to excavate and study the fossil material

More than 40 mammal species were named following these excavations. A large, left maxilla (upper jawbone), that was described by Wagner led to the erection of the species Mastodon atticus, in the mistaken belief that this prehistoric elephant was closely related to other European elephant fossils that had been studied by the influential French anatomist Georges Cuvier, who first used the term “Mastodon” to describe fossil elephants in 1806.

Mastodon atticus?

Wagner, who was a professor at the University of Munich, published a series of comprehensive treatises on the Pikermi field work on behalf of the University and in 1857 he erected the species Mastodon atticus, in the publication Neue Beiträge zur Kenntniss der fossilen Säugthier-Überreste von Pikermi (New Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fossil Mammalian Remains of Pikermi).

Eofauna Konobelodon model — *The Eofauna Scientific Research Konobelodon figure is in approximately 1:35 scale.*

A Revision of Prehistoric Elephant Taxonomy

Thought to be closely related to the taxon Amebelodon, a second species was named in 1990 based on fossils found in Florida. It was considered to be a sub-genus of Amebelodon (Konobelodon britti). Phylogenetic analysis failed to resolve the taxonomic position of Konobelodon fossil material within the Amebelodon genus and a re-assessment of the phylogeny was undertaken in 2014, resulting in the establishment of Konobelodon as a distinct genus. Notable differences in the European K. atticus and the American K. britti resulted in both being declared separate, but related species. A third species of Konobelodon (K. robustus), was named and scientifically described in 2016, based on fossils found in north-western China (Linxia Basin).