Elephas recki
Encyclopedia
Elephas recki is an extinct
species related to the Asian elephant
Elephas maximus. At up to 15 feet (4.5 metres) in shoulder height, it was one of the largest elephant species to have ever lived. It is believed that E. recki ranged throughout Africa between 3.5 and 1 million years ago. The Asian Elephant
is the only extant member of the genus. E. recki was a successful grass eating elephant that lived throughout the Pliocene
and the Pleistocene
until it was pushed to extinction, perhaps by competition with members of the genus Loxodonta
, the African elephants of today.
New research indicates that the ranges for all five subspecies overlap, and that they are not separated in time as previously proposed. The research also found a wide range of morphological
variation, both between the supposed subspecies and between different specimens previously identified as belonging to the same subspecies. The degree of temporal and geographical overlap, along with the morphological variation in E. recki suggests that the relationships between any subspecies are more complicated than previously indicated.
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
species related to the Asian elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
Elephas maximus. At up to 15 feet (4.5 metres) in shoulder height, it was one of the largest elephant species to have ever lived. It is believed that E. recki ranged throughout Africa between 3.5 and 1 million years ago. The Asian Elephant
Asian 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....
is the only extant member of the genus. E. recki was a successful grass eating elephant that lived throughout the Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
and the 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 ....
until it was pushed to extinction, perhaps by competition with members of the genus Loxodonta
Loxodonta
African elephants are the species of elephants in the genus Loxodonta , one of the two existing genera in Elephantidae. Although it is commonly believed that the genus was named by Georges Cuvier in 1825, Cuvier spelled it Loxodonte...
, the African elephants of today.
Subspecies
M. Beden identified five subspecies of Elephas recki, from oldest to youngest:- Elephas recki brumpti Beden, 1980
- Elephas recki shungurensis Beden, 1980
- Elephas recki atavus ArambourgCamille ArambourgCamille Arambourg was a French vertebrate paleontologist. He conducted extensive field work in North Africa. In the 1950s he argued against the prevailing model of Neandertals as brutish and simian.During World War I he was in Military service...
, 1947 - Elephas recki ileretensis Beden, 1987
- Elephas recki recki (Dietrich, 1916)
New research indicates that the ranges for all five subspecies overlap, and that they are not separated in time as previously proposed. The research also found a wide range of morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
variation, both between the supposed subspecies and between different specimens previously identified as belonging to the same subspecies. The degree of temporal and geographical overlap, along with the morphological variation in E. recki suggests that the relationships between any subspecies are more complicated than previously indicated.