Palaeoloxodon
| Palaeoloxodon Conservation status: Fossil | ||||||||||||||
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Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus |
Palaeoloxodon is an extinct subgenus of straight-tusked elephant. Its remains have been found in Bilzingsleben, Germany; Cyprus; Sicily; Malta; and recently in England during the excavation of the second Channel Tunnel. 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.
Some notable species are:
- Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus found in England and Germany and was twice the size of a modern African elephant
- E. (P.) cypriotes (Cyprus) dwarf elephant.
- E. (P.) falconeri (Sicily and Malta) dwarf elephant.
Mythology
The belief in Cyclopes 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.
Reference
Categories: Mammal stubs | Prehistoric mammals