Elephant family

Scientific evolution Kingdom :Animalia Phylum :Chordata Class :Mammalia Order :Proboscidea Superfamily: Elephantoidea Family :Elephantidae

Known elephant skeleton

Elephant autonomy

Classification of elephantidae Elephantids are classified informally as the elephant family, or in a paleobiological context as elephantspaleobiological and mammoths. The common name elephant primarily refers to thecommon nameelephant living taxa, the modern elephants, but may also refer to a variety of extinct species, both within this family and in others.others

Other members of the Elephantidae, especially members of Mammuthus, are referred to by the common name mammoth.mammoth The family diverged from a common ancestor of the mastodons of Mammutidae.Mammutidae

Evolution tree

Elephants have changed size and shape over time 8 [

From flat foot to fat foot: Structure, ontogeny, function and evolution of elephant "sixth toes." Science, 334, Early elephants had a different kind of foot, which seemed to be quite flat footed and didn't leave much room for this structure underneath. The structure seemed to evolved around 40 million years ago, and it seems to have evolved in concert with elephants getting bigger and more terrestrial and having upright feet, with a more tip-toed foot posture great example of how evolution tinkers and tweaks tissue to provide different functions - in this case to be co-opted to be used like a digit Evolutionary diagram showing how elephant foot form and posture evolved (copyright Julia Molnar, 2011)

family

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), also known as the African savanna elephant, is the largest living terrestrial animal with bulls reaching a shoulder height of up to 3.96 m (13.0 ft). Both sexes have tusks, which erupt when they are 1–3 years old and grow throughout life.terrestrial animal It is distributed across 37 African countries and inhabits forests, grasslands and woodlands, wetlands and agricultural land. It is a social mammal, traveling in herds composed of cows and their offspring. Adult bulls usually live alone or in small bachelor groups. It is a herbivore, feeding on grasses, creepers, herbs, leaves and bark.African

Pygmy elephants Pygmy elephants live in both Africa [1] and Asia. [2][3][4] The African pygmy elephant, formerly described as "Loxodonta pumilio", is currently considered to be a tiny morph of the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis). [1] The Borneo elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis), a well-documented variety of elephant, is also called "pygmy elephant." This elephant, inhabiting tropical rainforest in north Borneo (east Sabah and extreme north Kalimantan), was long thought to be identical to the Asian elephant and descended from a captive population. In 2003, DNA comparison revealed them to be probably a new subspecies. [2][3][4]Africa [1]Asia [2][3][4]morphAfrican forest elephant [1]Borneo elephanttropical rainforestBorneoSabahKalimantanAsian elephantDNA [2][3][4]

The Asian elephant The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), also called Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus Elephas and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and and to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognised— E. m. maximus from Sri Lanka, E. m. indicus from mainland Asia and E. m. sumatranus from the island of Sumatra. [1] The Asian elephant is the largest living land animal in Asia. [4]

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) is one of three extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. [2]subspeciesAsian elephantAsia [2] Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild population has declined by at least 50% since the 1930s to 1940s, i.e. three elephant generations. The Asian elephant is threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. [1]EndangeredIUCN Red Listhabitat lossdegradationfragmentation [1]

Sumatran elephant The Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to the Indonesia island of Sumatra. In 2011, the Sumatran elephant has been classified as critically endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by at least 80% over the last three generations, estimated to be about 75 years. The subspecies is pre-eminently threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, and poaching; over 69% of potential elephant habitat has been lost within the last 25 years. Much of the remaining forest cover is in blocks smaller than 250 km 2 (97 sq mi), which are too small to contain viable elephant populations. [1]subspeciesAsian elephantIndonesiaSumatracritically endangeredIUCNhabitat lossdegradationfragmentationpoachingforest cover [1]

Sri Lankan elephant The Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) is one of three recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to Sri Lanka. Since 1986, ElephassubspeciesAsian elephantSri Lanka maximus has been listed as endangered endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by atIUCN least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years. The species is primarily threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. [1] [1]

Prehistoric elephant ancestor

straight-tusked elephant The straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) is an extinct species of elephant that inhabited Europe and Western Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene (781,000–50,000 years before present). Recovered individuals have reached up to 4–4.2 melephantEuropeWestern AsiaPleistocene (13.1–13.8 ft) in height, and an estimated 11.3–15 ton nes (11.1–14.8 long tons; 12.5–16.5 short tons) in weight. The straight-tusked elephant probably lived in small herds, flourishing in interglacial interglacial periods, when its range would extend as far as Great Britain. Isolated tusks are often found while partial or whole skeletons are rare, and there is evidence of predation by early humans. It is a possible ancestor of dwarf elephants that later inhabited islands in the Mediterranean.dwarf elephantsMediterranean

woolly mammoth The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the early Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with Mammuthus subplanifrons in the early Pliocene. The woolly mammoth diverged from the steppe mammoth about 400,000 years ago in East Asia. Its closest extant relative is the Asian elephant. The appearance and behaviour of this species are among the best studied of any prehistoric animal because of the discovery of frozen carcasses in Siberia and Alaska, asmammothPleistoceneHoloceneMammuthus subplanifronsPliocenesteppe mammothAsian elephantprehistoricSiberiaAlaska well as skeletons, teeth, stomach contents, dung, and depiction from life in prehistoric cave paintings.cave paintings

Mastodons Mastodons (Greek: μ αστός "breast" and ὀ δούς, "tooth") are any species of extinct proboscideans in the genus Mammut (family Mammutidae), distantly related to elephants, that inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. [1] Mastodons lived in herds and were predominantlyGreekproboscideansMammutidaeelephantsNorthCentral AmericaMiocenePliocenePleistocene [1] forest-dwelling animals that fed on a mixed diet obtained by browsing and browsing grazing with a seasonal preference for grazing browsing, similar to living elephants.

Moeritherium Moeritherium ("the beast from Lake Moeris") is an extinct genus of primitive proboscideans. These prehistoric mammals are related to the elephant and, more distantly, sea cows and hyraxes. They lived during the Eocene epoch. Moeritherium was a rotundLake Moerisproboscideansmammalselephantsea cowshyraxesEocene semi-aquatic mammal with short, stubby legs that lived about million years ago [1] [1] Its body shape and lifestyle demonstrate convergent evolution with pigs, tapirs, and the pygmy hippopotamus. Moeritherium was smaller than most or all later proboscideanspigstapirspygmy hippopotamus

Deinotheriidae Deinotheriidae ("terrible beasts") is a family of prehistoric elephant-like proboscideans that lived during the Cenozoic era, first appearing in Africa, then spreading across southern Asia (Indo-Pakistan) and Europe. During that time, they changed very little, apart from growing much larger in size; by the late Miocene, they had become the largestproboscideansCenozoic eraMiocene land animals of their time. Their most distinctive features were the downward-curving tusks on the lower jaw.

Gomphotheres Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant- like proboscideans, but not belonging to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread inextincttaxonomic familyelephantproboscideansElephantidae North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs,North AmericaMiocenePliocene 12–1.6 million years ago. Some lived in parts of Eurasia, Beringia,EurasiaBeringia and in South America following the Great AmericanSouth AmericaGreat American InterchangeInterchange. Beginning about 5 million years ago, they were gradually replaced by mammoths in most of North America, with Cuvieronius persisting in northern MexicoCuvieronius until the end of the Pleistocene. Of the two South genera, of which Cuvieronius did not become extinct until 9,100 BP, [2] CuvieroniusBP [2]

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. They lived from the Pliocene epoch (from around 5 million years ago) into the Holocene at about 4,000 years ago, and variousspeciesextinctgenusordermammalsproboscideanstuskshairPlioceneepochHolocene species existed in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America. They were members of the family Elephantidae, which alsoElephantidae contains the two genera of modern elephants and their ancestors.elephants