Question: When Did Elephants Live in the Americas?

There is no question in anyone’s mind (Paleontologists, paleobiologists, science) that elephants at one time thrived in North and South America—the only question is when did they exist? If, in fact, the world is only 13,000 years old as the scriptural record suggests, and has been shown to be far more accurate in Scientific Fallacies & Other Myths than science’s questionable 4.55 billion years, then when was the so-called Pliocene Period? Science tells us that it was from 3.6 to 13.65 million years ago—but if the Earth was only formed 13,000 years ago or so, then when really was the period when the so-called Rhynchotherium elephant existed?

Left: This Proboscidea (Latin proboscis) is a taxonomic order containing one living family, (Right) Elephantidae, and several so-called extinct families; however, we do not know that the Proboscidea had any different skin than the Elephant of today, therefore, just longer tusks

Remains of rhynchotherium and gomphotheres, consisting of molars and tusks, have been found in South America at Monte Verde, Chile, and also in the Valle del Magdalena, Colombia. They are claimed to have been widespread in North, Central and South America. In fact, these animals, first described in 1811 by J. Illiger encompass the trunked mammals—that is, elephants—and claimed to have been throughout the Americas as late as 1.6 million years ago. Of course, if the Earth is only 13,000 years old, then when exactly did they thrive in the Americas?

Palentologists claim these animals lived for 10,000 years, which is close, since all living animals that move upon the dry land were created on the sixth day, or about 8,000 years ago. The scientific classification of proboscideans is unstable and frequently revised, and some relationships within the order remain unclear—as of today, there are at least 177 species and subspecies of recognized proboscideans, classified in 43 genera. Yet, God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:24-25)

So, elephants are elephants. Artists can make them look different by placing scraggly coats on them, but basically an elephant is an elephant. So when did they live? The record of Elephantidae bones dates back to the beginning of when this Earth was formed, to the time when God “made the beast of the earth.”

Consequently, when people who claim to know so much, but in reality know so little, “forever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth,” claim there were no elephants in the Americas until after the arrival of the Spanish, they are ignoring their own discoveries.

This rynchotherium of the proboscidea (elephant) family, presently displayed in the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, was found in Arizona, supposedly lived 3 million years ago and roamed Central and South America. Considered a very rare specimen, it is the best representation of this mammal to exist

Elephant remains have been found in Florida, California, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina specifically, which paleobiologists (Paleobiology is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology, and is occasionally referred to as "geobiology") claim all belong to an extinct, early form of elephant which died out some million years ago, or so. But again, if the earth is only 13,000 years old, when and why did these early elephants become extinct? Or are they merely earlier ancestors of today’s elephant? Stated differently, are they the elephants the Jaredites brought to the Land of Promise (Western Hemisphere) around 2100 B.C., and show once again the reality of the Book of Mormon?

Numerous elephant remains were found in the La Brea Tar Pits in Southern California and replicated in design shown here. By the way, there were no dinosaur bones found in the Tar Pits, but bison, camels, llamas, both western and Mexican horses, pronghorn, elk, deer, bear, lion, jaguar, cheetah, cougar, bobcat, wolf, coyote, and numerous other common small animals (raccoon, skunk, weasel, etc.) None of these animals are extinct, and all exist today 

Obviously, when God made the animals and commanded them to reproduce after their own kind, the animals (unlike man, perhaps) obeyed. The elephants God made, the elephants the Jaredites brought, and the elephant remains found in the ground in the Americas, are the same elephant lineage, and have always existed in the Americas. Or are we to believe that the elephants that died out in the Western Hemisphere in the ancient past and did not survive here after that, somehow did not die out, or somehow reinvented themselves in the Eastern Hemisphere so that in the 1500s, the Spanish could reintroduce them into the Western Hemisphere. Am I the only one that finds this strange?

The scientists, who deny the existence of God, and all He has created, formed and organized, want us to believe these elephants are entirely different. So whom shall we believe? The Godless? Or the scriptural record? The earth is 13,000 years old and the elephant has been in the Americas after the Flood since the Jaredites brought them here.

(See the next post, “Question: When Did Horses Live in the Americas? Part I,” for more on the existence of Book of Mormon mammals in the Western Hemisphere)