Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi

Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi Temporal range: Middle-Late Pleistocene
Drawing of molar teeth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Family:	Elephantidae
Genus:	† Palaeoloxodon
Species:	†P. creutzburgi
Binomial name
†Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi Kuss 1965
Synonyms
Palaeoloxodon chaniensis Symeonidis et al., 2001 [1] Loxodonta creutzburgi [2] Elephas creutzburgi [2]

Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi is an extinct species of elephant known from fossil found on the island Crete. It is a descendant of the large mainland straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus). It is known from localities across the island, ^[3] though known material is fragmentary. ^[4] P. chaniensis from Stylos and in Vamos cave, Chania, west Crete ^{[1] [5] [6]} is considered to be a junior synonym of P. creutzburgi. It had undergone insular dwarfism, being approximately 40% of the size of its mainland ancestor, and was around the size of the living Asian elephant, ^[3] with an estimated body mass of around 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb). ^[4] Like its ancestor, it was probably a generalist feeder. ^[3] It lived during the Middle-Late Pleistocene, ^[3] alongside the radiation of Candiacervus deer endemic to the island, the mouse Mus batae-minotaurus , the Cretan otter, and the Cretan shrew. ^[7] Like other Pleistocene animals on Crete, its chronology is poorly constrained, though one specimen has been suggested to date to around 50,000 years ago based on amino acid racemization dating. ^[4]

See also

• Mammuthus creticus a much smaller species of dwarf mammoth native to Crete during the Early-early Middle Pleistocene

• Dwarf elephant

References

1. Symeonides, N.K.; G.E. Theodorou; V.I. Giannopoulos (2001). "New data on Elephas chaniensis (Vamos cave, Chania, Crete)". The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001.
2. "Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi ✝". minddat.org. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
3. Athanassiou, Athanassios; van der Geer, Alexandra A.E.; Lyras, George A. (August 2019). "Pleistocene insular Proboscidea of the Eastern Mediterranean: A review and update" . Quaternary Science Reviews. 218: 306–321. Bibcode:2019QSRv..218..306A. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.028. S2CID   199107354.
4. Sen, S. (2017): A review of the Pleistocene dwarfed elephants from the Aegean islands, and their paleogeographic context. – Fossil Imprint, 73(1-2): 76–92, Praha. ISSN 2533-4050 (print), ISSN 2533-4069 (online).
5. Palombo, M.R. (2001). "Endemic elephants of the Mediterranean Islands: knowledge, problems and perspectives". The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001.
6. Turvey, Samuel T., ed. (2009). Holocene extinctions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0199535095.
7. Lyras, George A.; Athanassiou, Athanassios; van der Geer, Alexandra A. E. (2022), Vlachos, Evangelos (ed.), "The Fossil Record of Insular Endemic Mammals from Greece" , Fossil Vertebrates of Greece Vol. 2, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 661–701, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-68442-6_25, ISBN   978-3-030-68441-9 , retrieved 2023-04-30