The word Proboscidea comes from the word proboscis, which means "nose."

Modern-day Proboscidea is represented by one family, the family Elephantidae. There are two living members of the family Elephantidae (elephants), the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) and the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana). Some extinct proboscideans include the woolly mammoth and the mastodon.

Classification of Proboscidea:

• Family Moeritheridae - pig-sized animals: included Moeritherium
• Family Deinotheriidae - large, with down-curving tusks: included Deinotherium
• Suborder Elephantoidea - mammoths, mastodonts, and elephants
  • Family Gomphotheriidae (large and tusked): included Anancus, Ambelodon, Cuvieronius, Gomphotherium, Phiomia. Platybelodon, Stegomastodon)
  • Mammutidae (mastodonts) - Mammut
  • Family Elephantidae (elephants and mammoths) - included Elephas, Loxodonta, and Mammuthus.

African Elephant The African Elephant is the largest land animal.

Asian Elephant The Asian Elephant is an endangered species.

Elephants A comparison of the two living species of elephants, the Indian Elephant and the African Elephant.

Mastodon Mastodons were shaggy, tusked herbivores that lived during the last Ice Age.

Woolly Mammoth The Woolly Mammoth is an extinct elephant that lived during the Ice Ages.