The Proboscidea

The Proboscidea, of which only two species of elephant survive today, were one of the great mammalian orders of the Cenozoic, achieving enormous morphological variety and wide ecological adaptation. This is the first complete treatise on the evolution and palaeoecology of this group for fifty years. It reviews their classification and phylogeny, the early differentiation of proboscideans, the major adaptive radiations and their evolutionary pattern, and the origins and current status of extant elephant species. Written by leading international experts, this is a major study documenting the record of terrestrial biodiversity.