''Palaeoloxodon falconeri'', also known as the pygmy elephant, Maltese pygmy elephant, or Sicilian dwarf elephant, is an extinct Siculo- Maltese species of elephant that was derived from the straight-tusked elephant. It is amongst the smallest of all

dwarf elephant Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea which, through the process of allopatric speciation on islands, evolved much smaller body sizes (around ) in comparison with their immediate ancestors. Dwarf elephants are an example ...

Chronology

''Palaeoloxodon'' ''falconeri'' derives from the 4 metre tall straight-tusked elephant (''P''. ''antiquus''), which arrived in Europe approximately 800,000 years ago. The oldest radiometrically dated fossils of ''Palaeoloxodon'' on Sicily date to around 500,000 years ago while the ones found in Għar Dalam on Malta date to around 450,000 years ago. ''P. falconeris ancestors most likely reached

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

from the Italian mainland, likely via a series of islands that now form part of the southern Calabrian peninsula. The chronology of the species compared to that of the larger endemic species of ''Palaeoloxodon'' on Sicily, the tall '' Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis'', is somewhat uncertain. It is generally thought that ''P. falconeri'' is the earlier species dating to the

Middle Pleistocene The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. Th ...

, and that ''P''. ''mnaidriensis'' descends from a separate late Middle Pleistocene colonisation of the island by ''P. antiquus.Bonfiglio, L., Marra, A. C., Masini, F., Pavia, M., & Petruso, D. (2002). Pleistocene faunas of Sicily: a review. In W. H. Waldren, & J. A. Ensenyat (Eds.), ''World islands in prehistory: international insular investigations''. British Archaeological Reports, International Series, 1095, 428–436.'' ''P. falconeri'' also occurs on Malta, but is generally shorter making it a possible subspecies. It likely dispersed to Malta from Sicily during episodes of low sea level.

Taxonomy

In 1867, George Busk had proposed the species ''Elephas falconeri'' for many of the smallest molars selected from the material originally ascribed by

Hugh Falconer Hugh Falconer MD FRS (29 February 1808 – 31 January 1865) was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist, and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna, and geology of India, Assam,Burma,and most of the Mediterranean islands a ...

to '' Palaeoloxodon melitensis'' for the Maltese dwarf elephant, a possible subspecies of ''P. falconeri''.Palombo, M.R. (2001)
''Endemic elephants of the Mediterranean Islands: knowledge, problems and perspectives''
The World of Elephants, Proceedings of the 1st International Congress (October 16–20, 2001, Rome): 486–491.

Description

This

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

-bound elephant was an example of

insular dwarfism Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is disti ...

, with an adult male specimen MPUR/V n1 measured in shoulder height and weighed about , and an adult female specimen MPUR/V n2 measured in shoulder height and weighed about . Female members of the species were tuskless. Paleohistology demonstrates that despite its small size, it grew very slowly, reaching maturity at around 15 years of age, with some individuals reaching a lifespan of 68 years, comparable to full-sized elephants.

Gallery

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q727788 Palaeoloxodon Pleistocene proboscideans Pleistocene species Fossil taxa described in 1867 Pleistocene mammals of Europe Archaeological discoveries in Malta