Palaeoloxodon antiquus
The straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) is an extinct species of elephant. It lived in Europe and Western Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene (781,000–30,000 years ago).
Individuals reached up to 4–4.2 metres (13.1–13.8 ft) in height, with a weight estimated at 11.3–15 tonnes (11.1–14.8 long tons; 12.5–16.5 short tons).
The straight-tusked elephant probably lived in small herds, flourishing in interglacial periods, when its range went as far north as Great Britain. Skeletons found in association with stone tools and wooden spears suggest they were scavenged and hunted by early humans, including Neanderthals. It is the ancestral species of most dwarf elephants that lived on islands in the Mediterranean.
Palaeoloxodon Antiquus Media
Skeletal diagram of a 3.8 metre tall 40 year old adult male compared to a human
Reproducción de Palaeoloxodon antiquus
Size diagram of P. antiquus compared to humans, showing an average sized male (dark yellow) and female (purple) and estimated size of the largest known specimens (transparent yellow)
Phylogeny showing the placement of Palaeoloxodon antiquus in relation to other elephantids based on nuclear genomes, after Palkopoulou et al. 2018, demonstrating that it received substantial introgression of genes from African forest elephants, and to a lesser extent mammoths.
Skeletons of Palaeoloxodon falconeri a sheep-sized dwarf elephant species thought to have descended from the straight-tusked elephant native to Sicily and Malta
Painting of a straight tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) during the early temperate period of the Eemian interglacial in an environment characterised by "open, grassy vegetation interspersed with light woodland and bordering closed forest with shade-tolerant trees"
The "Lehringen Spear" on display in Germany
A straight-tusked elephant tibia with deliberate archaic human made incisions, from the Bilzingsleben site in Germany
