''Mammuthus creticus'', or the Cretan dwarf mammoth, is an extinct species of dwarf

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and ...

. With a shoulder height of about 1 m and a weight of about 310 kg, it was the smallest mammoth that ever existed. After DNA research published in 2006, it was proposed to rename ''Palaeoloxodon creticus'' into ''Mammuthus creticus'' (Bate, 1907). Others proposed (in 2002) to rename all the described specimens of larger size under the new subspecies name ''Elephas antiquus creutzburgi'' (Kuss, 1965). In a study of 2007, it was argued for the groundlessness of the theory by Poulakakis et al. in 2006, showing the weak points of that DNA research. However, morphological data is at least equivocal, and may also support placement in ''Mammuthus''. PZSL1907Plate12

Skulls of Cretan mammoths or of other

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 ...

species on Mediterranean islands have been suggested as the basis for the ancient Greek myth of

Cyclopes In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

.This suggestion of

Othenio Abel Othenio Lothar Franz Anton Louis Abel (June 20, 1875 – July 4, 1946) was an Austrian paleontologist and evolutionary biologist. Together with Louis Dollo, he was the founder of "paleobiology" and studied the life and environment of fossilized or ...

is noted by

Adrienne Mayor Adrienne Mayor (born 1946) is a historian of ancient science and a classical folklorist. Mayor specializes in ancient history and the study of " folk science", or how pre-scientific cultures interpreted data about the natural world, and how these ...

, ''The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times'' (Princeton University Press) 2000 .

References

Mammoths Prehistoric Crete Prehistoric mammals of Europe Fauna of Crete {{paleo-proboscidean-stub