This early elephant-like had four tusks with the lower tusks were much smaller than the upper ones. Gomphotherium was shorter and longer-bodied than modern elephants, but still quite hefty, reaching a weight of 4-5 tons. From this kind of elephant many others evolved, some called the shovel-tuskers having even longer lower jaws with broad, flat tusks, and others being more similar to modern elephants, eventually losing the lower tusks. Compared to modern elephants, the skull was more elongated and low. Like mastodon, they probably inhabited woodlands near swamps or 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.
The genus Gomphotherium lived from about 14 to 3.6 million years ago and was found in Africa, America, Europe and Asia!