Palaeoloxodon
Encyclopedia
Palaeoloxodon is an extinct subgenus
of elephants, containing the various species of straight-tusked elephant
. Its species' remains have been found in Bilzingsleben, Germany
; Cyprus
; Japan
; Sicily
; Malta
; and recently in England
during the excavation of the second Channel Tunnel
. The English discovery, in northwest Kent
, dated c. 400,000 ybp, was of a single adult; associated with it were Palaeolithic stone butchering tools of the type used by Homo heidelbergensis
(BBC News).
Palaeoloxodon belongs to the genus
Elephas
and so is more closely related to the Asian Elephant
than the Asian is to the two species of African elephants in genus Loxodonta
. Palaeoloxodon is known informally as the "straight-tusked elephant" because of the straight tusks of Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus. The last mainland European Palaeoloxodon faced extinction 30,000 years ago. The Japanese species survived possibly a little longer afterwards. The last straight-tusked elephants were the Mediterranean dwarf species
, which died out 8,000 years ago - possibly at the hands of human hunters and introduced predators.
Some notable species are:
may be originated in falconeri skulls found in Sicily. If one does not know what an elephant looks like, the place where the trunk is placed on the skull can be mistaken for a giant eyesocket.
Subgenus
In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which...
of elephants, containing the various species of straight-tusked elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
. Its species' remains have been found in Bilzingsleben, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
; Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
; 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...
; Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
; Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
; and recently in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the excavation of the second Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
. The English discovery, in northwest Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, dated c. 400,000 ybp, was of a single adult; associated with it were Palaeolithic stone butchering tools of the type used by Homo heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species of the genus Homo which may be the direct ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens. The best evidence found for these hominins date between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago. H...
(BBC News).
Palaeoloxodon belongs to the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Elephas
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....
and so is more closely related to 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....
than the Asian is to the two species of African elephants in 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...
. Palaeoloxodon is known informally as the "straight-tusked elephant" because of the straight tusks of Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus. The last mainland European Palaeoloxodon faced extinction 30,000 years ago. The Japanese species survived possibly a little longer afterwards. The last straight-tusked elephants were the Mediterranean dwarf species
Dwarf elephant
Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea, that, through the process of allopatric speciation, evolved to a fraction of the size of their immediate ancestors...
, which died out 8,000 years ago - possibly at the hands of human hunters and introduced predators.
Some notable species are:
- Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquusStraight-tusked ElephantThe Straight-tusked Elephant is an extinct species of elephant closely related to the living Asian Elephant. It inhabited Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene . Some experts regard the smaller Asian species E...
(England and Germany), was twice the size of a modern African elephant - E. (P.) cypriotesCyprus Dwarf ElephantThe Cyprus Dwarf Elephant is an extinct species of elephant related to the living Asian Elephant.-Description:Believed to be descended from the Straight-tusked Elephant, this much smaller species inhabited Cyprus and some other Mediterranean islands after the Messinian salinity crisis, during the...
(Cyprus), dwarf elephantDwarf elephantDwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea, that, through the process of allopatric speciation, evolved to a fraction of the size of their immediate ancestors...
. - E. (P.) falconeri (Sicily and Malta), dwarf elephant.
- E. (P.) mnaidriensisElephas mnaidriensisElephas mnaidriensis or Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis is an extinct species of elephant from Sicily closely related to the modern Asian elephant. This elephant is a separate species with respect to the European mainland straight-tusked elephant and not just a smaller insular form...
(Sicily), dwarf elephant. - E. (P.) namadicusElephas namadicusElephas namadicus was a species of prehistoric elephant that ranged throughout Pleistocene Asia, from India to Japan, where the indigenous Neolithic cultures hunted that particular subspecies for food. It is a descendant of the Straight-Tusked Elephant.Some authorities regard it to be a...
(Asia) - E. (P.) naumanni (Southern Japan), dwarf elephant and possible subspecies of E. namadicus.
Mythology
The belief in CyclopesCyclops
A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
may be originated in falconeri skulls found in Sicily. If one does not know what an elephant looks like, the place where the trunk is placed on the skull can be mistaken for a giant eyesocket.