The North African elephant (''Loxodonta africana pharaohensis'') is an extinct possible subspecies of the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), or possibly a separate

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, that existed in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, north of the Sahara, until it died out in

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. These were the famous

war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elepha ...

s used by

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...

in the Punic Wars, their conflict with the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

. Although the subspecies has been formally described, it has not been widely recognized by taxonomists. Other names for this animal include the North African forest elephant, Carthaginian elephant, and Atlas elephant. Originally, its natural range probably extended across North Africa and down to the present Sudanese and Eritrean coasts.

Description

Roman bronze elephant Staatliche Antikensammlungen SL 50 2

Carthaginian frescoes and coins minted by whoever controlled North Africa at various times show very small elephants, perhaps at the shoulder, with the large ears and concave back typical of modern African elephants. The North African elephant was smaller than the modern African bush elephant (''L. a. africana''), probably similar in size to the modern

African forest elephant The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living African elephant species. It is native to humid forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three living elephant species, reaching a shoulde ...

(''L. cyclotis'').

History

After they conquered

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

in 242 BC, the Romans tried to capture some specimens that had been left behind in the middle of the island by the Carthaginians, but failed in the endeavor. The elephants with which Hannibal crossed the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

and the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

in order to invade Italy during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) belonged to this group, with the exception of Hannibal's personal animal,

Surus Surus was believed to be the last war elephant of Carthaginian general Hannibal's army in Italy. History Several Roman writers give accounts of Surus, a large elephant with a tusk broken. According to Plautus, Surus wore a red cloth, and ma ...

(meaning "the Syrian," or possibly "One-Tusker"). This individual, according to his documented name and large size, may have been a Syrian elephant ''(Elephas maximus asurus''), which was possibly a subspecies of the

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...

that became extinct shortly after Hannibal invaded Italy, but before the extinction of the North African elephant. The North African elephant was also trained and used by the Ptolemaic dynasty of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. Writing in the 2nd century BC, Polybius ('' The Histories''; 5.84) described their inferiority in battle against the larger

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild pop ...

s used by the

Seleucid The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

kings. A survivin
Ptolemaic inscription
enumerates three types of war elephant: the "Troglodytic" (probably Libyan), the "Ethiopian", and the "Indian". The Ptolemaic king prides himself on being the first to tame the Ethiopian elephants, a stock which could be identical to one of the two extant African species. During the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, about 3,500 elephants were killed in Roman circus games.

Taxonomic uncertainty

Given the relatively recent date of its disappearance, the status of this population can probably be resolved through

ancient DNA Ancient DNA (aDNA) is DNA isolated from ancient specimens. Due to degradation processes (including cross-linking, deamination and fragmentation) ancient DNA is more degraded in comparison with contemporary genetic material. Even under the bes ...

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

analyses, if specimens of definite North African origin can be located and examined. Remains dating to the time of the Roman Republic from Tetouan, Morocco, identified as those of an elephant by collagen fingerprinting, likely belong to this taxon.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2717596 Extinct mammals Elephants Mammals of North Africa Extinct mammals of Africa Holocene extinctions

Description

History

Taxonomic uncertainty

See also

References