Gomphotherium is an extinct genus of elephant from the Neogene and early Pleistocene of Eurasia, Africa, and North America. The possessed four tusks and rugged molars. Their four tusks were almost straight. The lower ones were most often near each other in the narrow, elongated lower jaw, and they could be used as a shovel to dig up the marshy plants that the Gomphotherium feeds on. The Gomphotherium also had a short trunk that fell back on the lower jaw (much like the more recent tapir).