Elephas falconeri is an extinct
SiculoSicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
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MalteseMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
species of elephant closely related to the modern
Asian elephantThe Asian or Asiantic Elephant , sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies – the Indian Elephant, is one of the three living species of elephant, and the only living species of the genus Elephas. It is the largest living land animal in Asia...
. In 1867 George Busk had proposed the species
Elephas falconeri for many of the smallest molars selected from the material originally ascribed by
Hugh FalconerHugh Falconer MD FRS was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna and geology of India, Assam and Burma, and was the first to suggest the modern evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium...
to
Elephas melitensis.
Discussion
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Elephas falconeri is an extinct
SiculoSicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
-
MalteseMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
species of elephant closely related to the modern
Asian elephantThe Asian or Asiantic Elephant , sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies – the Indian Elephant, is one of the three living species of elephant, and the only living species of the genus Elephas. It is the largest living land animal in Asia...
. In 1867 George Busk had proposed the species
Elephas falconeri for many of the smallest molars selected from the material originally ascribed by
Hugh FalconerHugh Falconer MD FRS was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna and geology of India, Assam and Burma, and was the first to suggest the modern evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium...
to
Elephas melitensis.
This
islandAn island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key or cay is another name for a small island or islet. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, .There are two main types of islands:...
-bound elephant was an example of
insular dwarfismInsular dwarfism, a form of Phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of the reduction in size of large animals – almost always mammals – when their gene pool is limited to a very small environment, primarily islands...
, reaching only 90 cm (3 ft) in height.
E. falconeris ancestors most likely reached the Mediterranean islands it was found on because of the low sea levelMean sea level is the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation.- Measurement :...
during the Ice AgeThe general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual...
s.
In popular culture
The dwarf elephant is one of the 36 animals featured in the video game Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct AnimalsZoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals is a video game expansion pack for Zoo Tycoon 2 released October 17, 2007. The expansion focuses around extinct animals, mainly dinosaurs or ice age creatures, as well as today's extinct creatures like the dodo or thylacine.This expansion pack follows the other...
.