It is most probable that the Hyracoidea were not able to compete with the Ariodactyla. The Proboscidea were a very successful order that proliferated during the Pleistocene in Africa and then spread to all other continents except Australia and Antarctica. Today only two species of elephant remain in the order, the African and Asian elephants. The large creatures are herbivorous and have a specialized structure of the skull, jaws and teeth for crushing coarse plant material. Tusks are elongated upper incisor teeth that first appear at the age of 2 years and continue to grow though out life.
Elephant ivory is a unique mixture of dentine, cartilaginous material and calcium salts.
The tusks are mainly used for feeding of bark and root materials. The upper lip and nose are elongated and muscularized to form a long trunk. In the early Proboscidea was not open to evolving an elongated nick because of its heavy skull, therefore an alternative in adaptation became a long appendage above the mouth. The trunk enables the elephant to feed from the ground and from trees easily. The large ears act as a radiator for cooling the large compact body.