Stegotetrabelodon

Stegotetrabelodon is a genus of primitive elephant with gomphothere-like anatomical features from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of Africa and Eurasia. The type species is S. syrticus of late Miocene Africa, which reached roughly 4 m (13.1 ft) in shoulder height and 11–12 tonnes (12.1–13.2 short tons) in weight.[1] The other unequivocally recognized species is S. orbus, also of late Miocene Africa. Other species outside of Africa are questionably placed in this genus, including teeth from Late Miocene Hungary and Iran originally described as being of the Mastodon subgenus Bunolophodon, Chinese specimens originally described as being also of Mastodon, as well as of Tetralophodon and Stegodon, and a species from the late Miocene-aged Dokh Pathan Formation in Pakistan, S. maluvalensis.[2]

In December 2006 a small contingent of Emirates Natural History Group members found several sets of proboscidean footprints thought to belong to Stegotetrabelodon preserved in a large calcareous exposure between the sand dunes. The longest of these tracks extend for 290 m (950 ft) and 170 m (560 ft).[3]