Elephas naumanni
Encyclopedia
Elephas naumanni is an extinct species belonging to the genus Elephas
that lived in East Asia in the late Pleistocene
about 350,000 to 20,000 years ago. It is named after Heinrich Edmund Naumann
who discovered the first fossils at Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan
.
. Similar to mammoths E. naumanni had a subcutaneous fat layer and long fur as an adaption to a cold environment. The species had a pair of long twisted tusks and a bulge on the head. These tusks grew more than 2.4 m in length, 20 cm in diameter. It was a little smaller than Asian elephants averaging 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) to 3 metres (9.8 ft). It lived in forest which mixed subarctic conifers and cool-temperate deciduous trees. The ancestor of Elephas naumanni moved from the Eurasian continent to Japan via land bridge; it subsequently evolved independently after the land bridge was covered by sea and spread throughout Japan. Elephas naumanni was hunted by the inhabitants of the time. Some fossils were found around Lake Nojiri
(Nagano, Japan) together with a lot of stone tools or bone tools.
researched and reported these fossils in “Ueber japanische Elephanten der Vorzeit.”(1882). Naumann classified the fossil as Elephas namadicus Falconer & Cautley. In 1924, Jiro Makiyama researched fossils which are found in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan and reported the elephant was a new subspecies and denominated the fossil Elephas namadicus naumannni in “Notes on a fossil elephant from Sahamma, Totomi.”(1924). Tadao Kamei identified Elephas namadicus naumannni was a new species Palaeoloxodon naumanni from fossil found at Lake Nojiri. It is also called Elephas naumanni.
Elephas
Elephas is one of two surviving genera in the order of elephants, Proboscidea. The genus has one surviving species, the Asian elephant Elephas maximus....
that lived in East Asia in the late Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
about 350,000 to 20,000 years ago. It is named after Heinrich Edmund Naumann
Heinrich Edmund Naumann
Heinrich Edmund Naumann was a German geologist, regarded as the “father of Japanese geology” in Meiji period Japan.-Biography:...
who discovered the first fossils at Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Description
Elephas naumanni is closely related to the modern Asian Elephant, Elephas maximusAsian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
. Similar to mammoths E. naumanni had a subcutaneous fat layer and long fur as an adaption to a cold environment. The species had a pair of long twisted tusks and a bulge on the head. These tusks grew more than 2.4 m in length, 20 cm in diameter. It was a little smaller than Asian elephants averaging 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) to 3 metres (9.8 ft). It lived in forest which mixed subarctic conifers and cool-temperate deciduous trees. The ancestor of Elephas naumanni moved from the Eurasian continent to Japan via land bridge; it subsequently evolved independently after the land bridge was covered by sea and spread throughout Japan. Elephas naumanni was hunted by the inhabitants of the time. Some fossils were found around Lake Nojiri
Lake Nojiri
is in the town of Shinano, Kamiminochi District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Second to Lake Suwa among lakes in Nagano Prefecture, Nojiri is a resort, the location of the first pumped-storage hydroelectricity in Japan, and the site of a paleolithic excavation....
(Nagano, Japan) together with a lot of stone tools or bone tools.
Discover and Nomenclature
In 1860, the first fossil record was found at Yokosuka and the bottom of Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Heinrich Edmund NaumannHeinrich Edmund Naumann
Heinrich Edmund Naumann was a German geologist, regarded as the “father of Japanese geology” in Meiji period Japan.-Biography:...
researched and reported these fossils in “Ueber japanische Elephanten der Vorzeit.”(1882). Naumann classified the fossil as Elephas namadicus Falconer & Cautley. In 1924, Jiro Makiyama researched fossils which are found in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan and reported the elephant was a new subspecies and denominated the fossil Elephas namadicus naumannni in “Notes on a fossil elephant from Sahamma, Totomi.”(1924). Tadao Kamei identified Elephas namadicus naumannni was a new species Palaeoloxodon naumanni from fossil found at Lake Nojiri. It is also called Elephas naumanni.