This is a beautiful example of a lower right dP4 belonging to Loxodonta cf. adaurora that was found in Area 40. It is dated to 4 million years old.
Two genera of elephantids remain extant today, Loxodonta is found in Africa and Elephas in Eurasia. Both genera lived in Africa in the late Pliocene and Pleistocene, when Elephas was the more common one.
The earliest Loxodonta are found in the late Miocene. Loxodonts have a wholly African evolutionary history. Several species of Loxodonta have been recognized in East Africa: Loxodonta adaurora, L. exoptata, L. atlantica. Two of these species (L. adaurora and L. exoptata) are found to the east of Lake Turkana.
