Definition of Proboscidea in English:
Proboscidea
plural noun ˌprɒbəˈsɪdɪəˌprōbəˈsidēə
Zoology An order of large mammals that comprises the elephants and their extinct relatives. They are distinguished by the possession of a trunk and tusks.
Example sentencesExamples
- A member of the Proboscidea family (like its cousin the Wooly Mammoth), the mastodon stood almost ten feet tall and weighed in at roughly five tons - surely a big beast by any measure.
- We now think that their resemblance to members of those groups is a result of convergent adaptation for eating ants, and that their real affinities lie with the Sirenia, Hyracoidea, and Proboscidea.
- The bones belong to an animal in the order Proboscidea - large mammals with trunks - the same order that includes living elephants.
- A woolly mammoth is one of several types of mammoths in the genus Mammuthus within the order Proboscidea.
- With such a rich fossil record and such a recent American extinction, it is natural to consider restarting New World evolution of the Proboscidea with whatever taxa of elephants are left.
Origin
Modern Latin (plural), from proboscis.