Stegodon (meaning "roofed tooth" from the
Greek words στέγειν
stegein 'to cover' and ὀδούς
odous 'tooth') is a
genus of the
extinct subfamily Stegodontinae of the
order Proboscidea. It was assigned to the family
Elephantidae (Abel, 1919), but has also been placed in
Stegodontidae (R. L. Carroll, 1988). Stegodonts were present from 11.6
mya to late Pleistocene, with unconfirmed records of regional survival until 4,100 years ago. Fossils are found in Asian and African strata dating from the late
Miocene. They lived in large parts of
Asia, East and Central
Africa and
North America during the
Pleistocene.