According to Artbreeder, this species of Proboscidean (Vestinflatosirrata sacconaso) is the least like the Elephas genus, as it doesn't even have a trunk and its tusks are only a few inches long and only males have them. this hypothetical proboscidean does not match any known extinct elephant families, and would likely warrant placement in its own novel family. A few key points:
- Non-trunk proboscis - Very unusual for proboscideans, all families have a muscular prehensile trunk. This distinction warrants a new family.
- Forelimb vs hindlimb skew - Most walk on all fours with balanced limbs. Uneven limbs is significant.
- Rounded puffy facial skin - Most have flat or wrinkled facial skin. This puffy texture is distinctive.
- Separated cheekbone/proboscis - All other proboscideans have direct contact between these bones for trunk leverage. The separation is taxonomically meaningful.
With its proboscis being so different from an elephantine trunk, as well as the other skeletal and soft tissue variations, this organism would be recognized as belonging to its own novel family branch within Proboscidea. The exact family name would depend on which researchers described it first. But a new family designation would be necessary based on your anatomical descriptions indicating it is highly divergent from other known proboscideans.
To summarize the reasoning:
- The order Proboscidea signifies it is related to extinct elephant relatives based on the proboscis.
- I coined the new genus name Vestinflatosirrata from "vestibula" meaning seperated space from "inflato" meaning inflated and "sirrata" for the proboscis distinction. This refers to the puffy, inflated soft tissue on the proboscis and face.
- The new family name Vestibuloproboscidae combines "vestibulo" meaning separated space, indicating the separation between the proboscis and other bones.
- The species name sacconaso references the sac-like puffy nose.