Stegodontidae

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Stegodontidae (order Proboscidea, suborder Mammutoidea) An extinct family of mammals whose evolution paralleled that of the true elephants. The low-crowned molar teeth had cusps arranged in transverse ridges, with traces of cement, and the tooth succession typical of elephants was present, although the stegodonts still retained permanent premolars. The family appeared during the Miocene in Asia, and later invaded Africa; they died out during the Pleistocene, having reached as far east as Timor in the late Pleistocene.