By the time of the Late Miocene, the proboscideans were well-established across much of the world. There were deinotheres, mammutids, stegodonts, ambelodonts, and gomphotheres. And it was from the latter group that a very special beast arose somewhere between eight and six million years ago: Stegotetrabelodon, the first known member of the family Elephantidae, the true elephants. Four species are currently recognised: S. syrticus, S. orbus, S. lybicus, and S. emiratus.
This year, Haolonggood bestowed on us the very first proper toy of Stegotetrabelodon. And boy howdy, is it a big one! It stands just over 12 cm tall at the head and, from the tip of its left upper tusk to its left hind heel, measures 23.5 cm long. And it weighs in at 426 g, which makes it the second biggest Haolonggood mammal thus far after the 631 g Paraceratherium. It’s also heavier than any of the Eofauna proboscideans save for the 486 g straight-tusked elephant. This means that it most likely represents S. syrticus, which is known from Libya and Italy and estimated to have stood 4 metres tall and weighed 11 to 12 tons.
This is the AW006A colour scheme version as opposed to the grey-toned AW006B one. The main colours are dark grey-brown and dark salmon pink, much like modern Asian elephants with depigmented skin patches. The toenails are light beige, the tail tuft is very dark brown, the inside of the mouth is pink, and the eyes are medium brown with glossy black pupils. Finally, the tusks are dirty beige with airbrushed dark brown near the roots. I selected this version because I felt it would make the toy stand out more among my other proboscideans, and it does just that. Quite realistic.
And like most proboscidean toys, this one represents a mature male, complete with visible genitalia on his underside. He is sculpted in a somewhat extreme pose with his limbs extended forward and back, his tail raised slightly, his mouth open, and his trunk raised and curling back. He looks dynamic, majestic, and mighty, the undisputed lord of his domain. Indeed, as far as we currently know, there were no contemporary land predators back then that were capable of bringing down an adult Stegotetrabelodon.
The skin on this toy strongly resembles that of real elephants, with lots and lots of nicely sculpted wrinkles and folds to give it that slightly baggy appearance. The tail is relatively short with a large tuft at the tip. The long, muscular legs end in feet with five toenails on the front pair and four on the hind pair, just like on an Asian elephant. The torso is massive and bulgy and the back is relatively level aside from a small hump over the shoulders; it is neither convex like an Asian elephant’s nor concave like an African’s. The cranium, on the other hand, is similar to that of an Asian elephant, with two distinctive domes, albeit not as big or pronounced. The ears even more so, being fairly small and D-shaped. And the long and very wrinkled trunk has a single upper “finger” at the tip, as well as nicely done nostrils.
But the similarities end once we get to the Stegotetrabelodon‘s tusks and mouth. The upper tusks are almost perfectly straight and very long, with the lefthand one measuring 7 cm (the asymmetry is always a welcome touch of realism) from tip to root. The lower jaw is extended and narrow, with a second, smaller pair of tusks jutting out at the tip. Again they are asymmetrical, with the righthand one being slightly longer. All four tusks are made of flexible material to prevent breakage, yet the tips are really pointy, the pointiest of any tusker in my collection. Watch you don’t prick yourself with them!
While Stegotetrabelodon is by no means the only prehistoric proboscidean known to have had four tusks, as shown below, I would say that it is definitely the most intimidating out of all of them. Being gored by this goliath indubitably would have been no picnic. It even looks a bit like the Mumakil that appeared in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. And for certain this toy resembles most other depictions of Stegotetrabelodon. The tusks do seem particularly long, but hardly implausible considering that “super tuskers” are known to exist among modern elephants.
I love the Haolonggood Stegotetrabelodon. I’ve been desiring a toy of this marvellous animal ever since I first read about it, and this one absolutely checks all the boxes. It is big, bold, beautifully sculpted, and about as accurate as one can achieve. This one is a winner, folks. Get it!
All articles on the Dinosaur Toy Blog are written without the use of ‘AI’
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