Cuvieronius fossil map
Where fossils of Cuvieronius have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 9.4 million years ago to the present (Tortonian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Gomphotheriidae |
| Named by | Osborn 1923 |
| Fossil records | 176 occurrences at 80 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Panama, El Salvador, Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru … |
| Rock formations | txn:43240, Bermont, Tamiami, St. David, Camp Rice, Waccamaw |
About Cuvieronius
Cuvieronius is an extinct New World genus of gomphothere which ranged from southern North America to northwestern South America during the Pleistocene epoch. Reaching a shoulder height of 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) and a body mass of 3.5 t (7,700 lb), it was comparable in size to an Asian elephant. Cuvieronius inhabited subtropical and tropical latitudes in environments ranging from grasslands to tropical rainforest. Among the last gomphotheres along with the South American Notiomastodon, it became extinct as part of the end Pleistocene-extinction event, approximately 12–11,000 years ago, along with most other large mammals in the Americas. The extinctions followed the arrival of humans to the Americas, and evidence has been found for human hunting of Cuvieronius, which may have been a factor in its extinction.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Cuvieronius (revision 1370257242), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q139070.
