Elephas
Elephas Temporal range: Pliocene to present
| |
---|---|
Asian elephant | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Proboscidea |
Family: | Elephantidae |
Tribe: | Elephantini |
Genus: | Elephas Linnaeus, 1758 |
Type species | |
Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758
| |
Species | |
| |
Synonyms | |
Hypselephas |
Elephas is one of two surviving genera in the family of elephants, Elephantidae, with one surviving species, the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus.[1]
Several extinct species have been identified as belonging to the genus, including Elephas recki, Elephas antiquus and the dwarf elephants E. falconeri and E. cypriotes. The genus is very closely related to the mammoth genus, Mammuthus.[2]
According to a study by Saki Yasui and Gen’ichi Idani titled “Social significance of trunk use in captive Asian elephants”, a group of female elephants in Thailand were observed to determine if the way in which they use their trunks to touch other elephants was related to the social relationships they developed. Yasui and Idani concluded that there is in fact a significance amongst the two variables (Yasui and Idani). [9]
Taxonomy
Elephas is assigned to the proboscidean family Elephantidae and comprises one living and 7 extinct species:[3]
- Elephas maximus – Asian elephant[1]
- Elephas maximus indicus – Indian elephant
- Elephas maximus maximus – Sri Lankan elephant
- Elephas maximus sumatranus – Sumatran elephant
- Elephas maximus borneensis – Borneo elephant, proposed but not yet recognized as valid;[4]
- Elephas maximus sondaicus Javan elephant†
- Elephas maximus rubridens – Chinese elephant †
- Elephas maximus asurus – Syrian elephant †
- Elephas beyeri † – described from fossil remains found in 1911 in Luzon, Philippines by von Königswald;[5]
- Elephas celebensis † – Sulawesi dwarf elephant, described from southern Celebes by Hooijer in 1949;[6]
- Elephas ekorensis † – described from the Kubi Algi Formation, Turkana, Kenya;[3]
- Elephas hysudricus † – described from fossil remains found in the Siwalik hills by Falconer and Cautley, 1845;[7]
- Elephas hysudrindicus † – is a fossil elephant of the Pleistocene of Java and different from Elephas maximus;[8]
- Elephas iolensis †
- Elephas platycephalus †
References
- ^ a b Shoshani, J. (2005). "Order Proboscidea". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Fleischer, R. C.; Perry, E. A.; Muralidharan, K.; Stevens, E. E.; Wemmer, C. M. (2001). "Phylogeography of the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) based on mitochondrial DNA" (PDF). Evolution. 55 (9): 1882–1892. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00837.x.
- ^ a b Maglio, V.J. (1973). Origin and evolution of the Elephantidae. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Philadelphia Volume 63. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. Pp. 149
- ^ Fernando, P., Vidya, T.N.C., Payne, J., Stuewe, M., Davison, G., et al. (2003). DNA Analysis Indicates That Asian Elephants Are Native to Borneo and Are Therefore a High Priority for Conservation. PLoS Biol 1 (1): e6
- ^ Von Königswald, G.H.R. (1956). Fossil mammals from the Philippines. National Research Council of the Philippines, Manila
- ^ Hooijer, D.A. (1949). Pleistocene Vertebrates from Celebes. IV. - Archidiskodon celebensis nov spec.. Zoologische Mededelingen Museum Leiden, 30 (14): 205–226.
- ^ Falconer, H. Cautley, P. T. (1846). Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis, Being the Fossil Zoology of the Sewalik Hills. Smith, Elder & Company, London. Pp. 64.
- ^ Hooijer, D. A. (1955). Fossil Proboscidea from the Malay Archipelago and the Punjab. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 28 (1): 1–146.
9. Saki Yasui & Gen’ichi Idani (2017) Social significance of trunk use in captive Asian elephants, Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 29:4, 330-350, DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2016.1179684