North African elephant

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North African elephant
Temporal range: Holocene 0.0117–0  Ma
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14 Piazzale delle Corporazioni Ostia Antica 2006-09-08.jpg
Roman mosaic at Ostia Antica, Italy
Extinct  (c. 4th century AD. [1] )
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephantidae
Genus: Loxodonta
Species:
L. africana
Subspecies:
†L. a. pharaoensis
Trinomial name
†Loxodonta africana pharaoensis
Deraniyagala, 1948
Synonyms
  • "L. a. berbericus" Seurat, 1930 (nomen nudum) [2]
  • "L. a. hannibaldi" Deraniyagala, 1953 (nomen nudum) [2]

The North African elephant (Loxodonta africana pharaohensis) is an extinct subspecies of the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), or possibly a separate elephant species, that existed in North Africa, north of the Sahara, until it died out in Roman times. These were the famous war elephants used by Carthage in the Punic Wars, their conflict with the Roman Republic. Although the subspecies has been formally described, [3] [4] it has not been widely recognized by taxonomists. [2] [5] Other names for this animal include the North African forest elephant, [6] [7] Carthaginian elephant, [5] [8] and Atlas elephant.[ citation needed ] Its natural range probably extended along the coast of the Red Sea, in what is now Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea, [7] [5] but it may have extended further across northern Africa. [9]

Contents

Description

Roman bronze statue of a war elephant Roman bronze elephant Staatliche Antikensammlungen SL 50 2.jpg
Roman bronze statue of a war elephant

Carthaginian frescoes [10] and coins [5] minted by whoever controlled North Africa at various times show very small elephants, perhaps 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) at the shoulder, with the large ears and concave back typical of modern African elephants. Contemporary writers noted that the North African elephant was smaller than the Indian elephant. [11] This suggests that the North African elephant was smaller than extant African bush elephants (L. a. africana), possibly similar in size to the modern African forest elephant (L. cyclotis). [12]

History

The North African elephant was a significant animal in Nubian culture. They were depicted on the walls of temples and on Meroitic lamps. Kushite kings also utilize war elephants, which are believed to have been kept and trained in the "Great Enclosure" at Musawwarat al-Sufa. The Kingdom of Kush provided these war elephants to the Egyptians, Ptolemies and Syrians. [13]

After they conquered Sicily 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 and the Alps 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 (meaning "the Syrian," or possibly "One-Tusker"). [14] 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 that became extinct shortly after Hannibal invaded Italy, but before the extinction of the North African elephant.[ citation needed ]

The North African elephant was also used by the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. Writing in the 2nd century BC, Polybius ( The Histories ; 5.84) described their inferiority in battle against the larger Indian elephants used by the Seleucid kings. A surviving 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. [15]

During the reign of Augustus, about 3,500 elephants were killed in Roman circus games, [16] [ specify ] and this prolonged use as a beast in games of baiting along with hunting would drive the species to extinction at the 4th century AD. [1]

Taxonomic uncertainty

Ansell (1971) classified L. a. pharaohensis as a distinct taxon of African elephant closely related to the African forest elephant. [9] [11] However, this has not been universally accepted. [2] If not a distinct species or subspecies, the small size of the North African elephant could be explained by being a small population of African bush elephants, [17] or by the capture and use of young African bush elephant individuals. [11]

Given the relatively recent date of its disappearance, the status of this population can probably be resolved through ancient DNA sequence 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. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 Pritisk, Yuri (November 2019). "North African or Carthaginian elephant (Loxodonta africana pharaohensis)". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Shoshani, J. (2005). "Order Proboscidea". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 91. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  3. ↑ Nowak, Ronald M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World (6 ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p.  1002. ISBN   978-0-8018-5789-8.
  4. ↑ Yalden, D. W.; Largen, M. J.; Kock, D. (1986). "Catalogue of the Mammals of Ethiopia (III: Order Proboscidea)". Monitore Zoologico Italiano, Supplemento. 21 (1): 46–52. doi: 10.1080/03749444.1986.10736707 .
  5. 1 2 3 4 Charles, Michael B. (December 2020). "The African Elephants of Antiquity Revisited: Habitat and Representational Evidence". Historia. 69 (4): 392–407. doi:10.25162/historia-2020-0017.
  6. ↑ O'bryhim, S. (May 1991). "Hannibal's Elephants and the Crossing of the Rhône". The Classical Quarterly. 41 (1): 121–125. doi:10.1017/S0009838800003591.
  7. 1 2 Lobban Jr., Richard A.; de Liedekerke, Valerie (2000). "Elephants in Ancient Egypt and Nubia". Anthrozoös. 13 (4): 232–244. doi:10.2752/089279300786999707.
  8. ↑ Jones, Brynmor (May 1938). "Desiccation and the West African Colonies". The Geographical Journal. 91 (5): 401–423.
  9. 1 2 Laursen, Larry; Beckoff, Marc (1978-01-06). "Loxodonta africana" (PDF). Mammalian Species. 92: 1–8. doi:10.2307/3503889.
  10. ↑ Benedetti-Valentini, Fabio. "Carthage, la ville disparue". Azurever. Archived from the original on 2010-10-27.
  11. 1 2 3 Sukumar, Raman (2003-08-14). The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation. Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-510778-0.
  12. ↑ Schuhmacher, Thomas X.; Cardoso, João Luís; Banerjee, Arun (2009). "Sourcing African ivory in Chalcolithic Portugal" (PDF). Antiquity. 83 (322): 983–997. doi:10.1017/S000359X00099294.
  13. ↑ Fisher, Marjorie M.; Lacovara, Peter; Ikram, Salima; D'Auria, Sue; Yellin, Janice W.; Knoblauch, Christian (2012). Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press. pp. 216–217. ISBN   9789774164781.
  14. ↑ Scullard, H. H. (1953). "Ennius, Cato, and Surus". The Classical Review. 3 (3/4): 140–142. doi:10.1017/S0009840X00995805. JSTOR   703426. S2CID   162984205.
  15. ↑ "Chronicle concerning the Invasion of Ptolemy III". Livius. BCHP 11, the Ptolemy III Chronicle (Invasion of Ptolemy III Chronicle).
  16. ↑ Woolf, Greg (2007). Ancient civilizations: the illustrated guide to belief, mythology, and art. Barnes & Noble. p. 397. ISBN   978-1-4351-0121-0.
  17. ↑ Charles, Michael B. (2016). "Elephant Size in Antiquity: DNA Evidence and the Battle of Raphia". Historia. 65: 53–65. doi:10.25162/historia-2016-0004.
  18. ↑ Rodrigues, Ana S. L.; Charpentier, Anne; Bernal-Casasola, Darío; Gardeisen, Armelle; Nores, Carlos; Pis Millán, José Antonio; McGrath, Krista; Speller, Camilla F. (2018-07-11). "Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285 (1882): 20180961. doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.0961. ISSN   0962-8452. PMC   6053924 . PMID   30051821.
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