EVOLUTION:
AsianElephant (Elephasmaximus)
TheMeaningoftheWord“Elephant”
ThewordelephanthasbothGreekandLatinorigins.Thisappliesspecificallytotheelephant’sscientificgenusname“Elephas”.InGreeklinguistics,elephosrepresentsanantleredbeastorstag.
TherootsofthewordelephantinLatinisdividedintotwowords:“ele”whichmeansarchand“phant”whichmeanshuge.
Thegenusname,Loxodonta,fortheAfricanelephantmeanslozenge-shapedteethforthechewingsurfaces.
TheorderunderwhichElephantsareclassifiedistheProboscidea.Thisisforoneoftheelephant'smostinterestingphysicalfeatures.Itissomethingthatattractscuriosityfromaroundtheworldforelephantsalongwithmanyotheraspectsinthepastonlyascribedtothehuman,suchas,rudimentarytooluse,complexsocialbehaviours,andreverenceforadeadfamilymemberorfriend.Itistheirtrunkorproboscis;themeaningofProboscideaspeciesissimplyanimalswithtrunks/proboscis.
ElephasMaximus/AsianElephant(Genus)
Ataboutthesametimethatthemammothwascomingintoexistence,sowastheAsianelephant,Elephas.ItalsooriginatedinAfricaanditisbelievedtohaveastrongerevolutionarytietomammothsthanithaswithAfricanelephants.
AsianelephantsspreadthroughoutEurasiaandtheynowexistinIndia,SriLanka,China,BangladeshandSoutheastAsia.ElephasmaximusindicusistheIndiansubspecies.ElephasmaximussumatranusisthesubspeciesofSumatra.OntheislandofSriLanka,thereisalsoasubspeciescalledElephasmaximusmaximus.Theisolationthattheislandhasprovidedhasallowedadivergentevolutiontooccur.Mostofthebullstherearetuskless,thoughtheyarenotaseparatespecies.Thismaybetheresultofaselectionprocessinwhich,overaperiodofcenturies,bullswithparticularlylargetuskswereshotbyivoryhuntersandhadfeweroffspringasaresult.Thisisasad,butinterestingexampleoftherolethathumanscanplayintheevolutionofotherspecies.
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, extending back to the Pliocene era. While formerly assigned to this genus, Elephas recki, the straight-tusked elephant E. antiquus and the dwarf elephants E. falconeri and E. cypriotes are now placed in the separate genus Palaeoloxodon. The genus is very closely related to the genus Mammuthus.[2]
The scientific name Elephas was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 who described the genus and an elephant from Ceylon.[3] The genus is assigned to the proboscidean family Elephantidae and is made up of one living and seven extinct species:[4]
The following Asian elephants were proposed as extinct subspecies, but are now considered synonymous with the Indian elephant:[1]
The following Elephas species are extinct:
Elephas is one of two surviving genera in the family of elephants, Elephantidae, with one surviving species, the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus.
Several extinct species have been identified as belonging to the genus, extending back to the Pliocene era. While formerly assigned to this genus, Elephas recki, the straight-tusked elephant E. antiquus and the dwarf elephants E. falconeri and E. cypriotes are now placed in the separate genus Palaeoloxodon. The genus is very closely related to the genus Mammuthus.
