View source for Elephantidae

{{Short description|Family of mammals}}
{{about|the family of proboscideans|a detailed overview of living elephants|Elephant}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Late Miocene|Holocene}}
| image = Elephas maximus (Bandipur).jpg
| image_caption = A male [[Asian elephant]] (''Elephas maximus'') in the wild at [[Bandipur National Park]] in India
| image2 = Stegotetrabelodon11.jpg
| image2_caption = Life restoration of ''[[Stegotetrabelodon]]''
| taxon = Elephantidae
| authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1821
| type_genus = ''[[Elephas]]''
| type_genus_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision_ref = <ref name=Shoshani_etal_2007>{{cite journal |last1=Shoshani |first1=J. |last2=Ferretti |first2=M.P. |last3=Lister |first3=A.M. |last4=Agenbroad |first4=L.D. |last5=Saegusa |first5=H. |last6=Mol |first6=D. |last7=Takahashi |first7=K. |title=Relationships within the Elephantinae using hyoid characters |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2007.02.003 |journal=Quaternary International |volume=169-170 |pages=174–185 |year=2007 |bibcode=2007QuInt.169..174S}}</ref>
| subdivision = {{Linked genus list
  |Elephas|Linnaeus, 1758
  |African elephant{{!}}Loxodonta|Anonymous, 1827
  |{{extinct}}Mammoth{{!}}Mammuthus|Brookes, 1828
  |{{extinct}}Palaeoloxodon|Matsumoto, 1925
  |{{extinct}}Phanagoroloxodon|Garutt, 1957
  |{{extinct}}Primelephas|Maglio, 1970
  |{{extinct}}Selenetherium|Mackaye, Brunet & Tassy, 2005<ref>H. T. Mackaye, M. Brunet, and P. Tassy. 2005. ''Selenetherium kolleensis'' nov. gen. nov. sp.: un nouveau Proboscidea (Mammalia) dans le Pliocène tchadien. ''Geobios'' 38(6):765-777</ref>
  |{{extinct}}Stegodibelodon|Coppens, 1972
  |{{extinct}}Stegoloxodon|Kretzoi, 1950
 
  |{{extinct}}Stegotetrabelodon|Petrocchi, 1941<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Kalb, J. E. |author2=& Froehlich, D. J.|date=1995 |title=Interrelationships of Late Neogene Elephantoids: New evidence from the Middle Awash Valley, Afar, Ethiopia |journal=Geobios |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=727–736 |doi=10.1016/s0016-6995(95)80068-9|bibcode=1995Geobi..28..727K }}</ref>
  }}
| synonyms = {{taxon list|Elephasidae|Lesson, 1842}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite journal|last1=Maglio|first1=Vincent J.|title=Origin and Evolution of the Elephantidae|journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society|date=1973|volume=63|issue=3|page=16|doi=10.2307/1006229|jstor=1006229}}</ref>
}}

'''Elephantidae''' is a [[family (biology)|family]] of large, herbivorous [[proboscidean]] mammals which includes the living [[Elephant|elephants]] (belonging to the genera ''[[Elephas]]'' and ''[[Loxodonta]]''), as well as a number of extinct genera like ''[[Mammuthus]]'' (mammoths) and ''[[Palaeoloxodon]]''. They are large [[terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] [[mammal]]s with a [[snout]] modified into a [[Elephant#Trunk|trunk]] and [[teeth]] modified into [[tusk]]s. Most [[Genus|genera]] and [[species]] in the family are [[extinction|extinct]]. Some extinct members are among the largest known terrestrial mammals ever.

The family was first described by [[John Edward Gray]] in 1821,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gray|first1=John Edward|title=On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals|journal=London Medical Repository|date=1821|volume=15|pages=297–310|url=https://archive.org/details/londonmedicalre08unkngoog}}</ref> and later assigned to taxonomic ranks within the order Proboscidea. Elephantidae has been revised by various authors to include or exclude other extinct proboscidean genera.

== Description ==
{{Hatnote|For detailed information on the anatomy of living elephants, see [[Elephant#Anatomy]]}}
Elephantids are distinguished from more basal proboscideans like [[gomphotheres]] by their teeth, which have parallel lophs, formed from the merger of the cusps found in the teeth of more basal proboscideans, which are bound by [[cementum]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lister |first=Adrian M. |date=2013-06-26 |title=The role of behaviour in adaptive morphological evolution of African proboscideans |journal=Nature |volume=500 |issue=7462 |pages=331–334 |doi=10.1038/nature12275 |pmid=23803767 |bibcode=2013Natur.500..331L |s2cid=883007 |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> In later elephantids, these lophs became narrow lamellae/plates,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Saarinen |first1=Juha |last2=Lister |first2=Adrian M. |date=2023-08-14 |title=Fluctuating climate and dietary innovation drove ratcheted evolution of proboscidean dental traits |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |language=en |volume=7 |issue=9 |pages=1490–1502 |bibcode=2023NatEE...7.1490S |doi=10.1038/s41559-023-02151-4 |issn=2397-334X |pmc=10482678 |pmid=37580434}}</ref> which are pockets of [[Tooth enamel|enamel]] filled with [[Dentin|dentine]], which are arranged successively  like a [[concertina]].<ref name=":3">V.L. Herridge [https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/133456/1/133456_Vol.1.pdf Dwarf Elephants on Mediterranean Islands: A Natural Experiment in Parallel Evolution. PhD Thesis, Vol 1.] p. 32 University College London (2010)</ref> The number of lophs/lamellae per tooth, as well as the tooth crown height ([[hypsodont]]y) is greater in later species.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last=Athanassiou |first=Athanassios |title=The Fossil Record of Continental Elephants and Mammoths (Mammalia: Proboscidea: Elephantidae) in Greece |date=2022 |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-68398-6_13 |work=Fossil Vertebrates of Greece Vol. 1 |pages=345–391 |editor-last=Vlachos |editor-first=Evangelos |access-date=2023-11-21 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-68398-6_13 |isbn=978-3-030-68397-9|s2cid=245067102 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Elephantids chew using a proal jaw movement involving a forward stroke of the lower jaws, different from the oblique movement using side to side motion of the jaws in more primitive proboscideans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Saegusa |first=Haruo |date=March 2020 |title=Stegodontidae and Anancus: Keys to understanding dental evolution in Elephantidae |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379119302665 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=231 |article-number=106176 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106176|bibcode=2020QSRv..23106176S |s2cid=214094348 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The most primitive elephantid ''[[Stegotetrabelodon]]'' had a long lower jaw with lower tusks and retained permanent premolars similar to many gomphotheres, while modern elephantids lack permanent premolars, with the lower jaw being shortened (brevirostrine) and lower tusks being absent.<ref name=":1" />

{{gallery|File:Tetralophodon -a.jpg|Molar of ''[[Tetralophodon]]'', a "tetralophodont [[gomphothere]]"|File:Stegotetrabelodon molar.jpg
|Worn molar of ''[[Stegotetrabelodon]]'', a primitive elephantid
|File:Loxodonta africana - Molar of an adult.JPG|Molar of a modern [[African bush elephant]] (''Loxodonta africana'')|File:Mammoth fossil tooth - Pleistocene, USA - 23202566565.jpg|Tooth of ''Mammuthus sp.''|width=200|height=180|align=center|title=Comparison of teeth|Mammuthus_sp._sectioned_upper_and_lower_molars_1.jpg|Cross section through elephantid molars}}Elephantids are typically [[sexually dimorphic]], with substantially larger males, with an accelerated growth rate over a longer period of time than females. Elephantidae contains some of the largest known proboscideans, with fully-grown males of some species of [[Mammoth|mammoths]] and ''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'' having average body masses of {{Convert|11|t|lb}} and {{Convert|13|t|lb}} respectively, making them among the largest terrestrial mammals ever. One species of ''Palaeoloxodon'', ''[[Palaeoloxodon namadicus]]'', has been suggested to have been possibly the largest land mammal of all time, though this remains speculative due to the fragmentary nature of known remains.<ref name="probos_mass">{{cite journal |last1=Larramendi |first1=A. |year=2016 |title=Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans |url=https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app61/app001362014.pdf |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=61 |doi=10.4202/app.00136.2014 |s2cid=2092950 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In comparison to more basal elephantimorphs like gomphotheres, the bodies of elephantids tend to be proportionally shorter from front to back, as well having more elongate limbs with more slender limb bones.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bader |first1=Camille |last2=Delapré |first2=Arnaud |last3=Göhlich |first3=Ursula B. |last4=Houssaye |first4=Alexandra |date=November 2024 |title=Diversity of limb long bone morphology among proboscideans: how to be the biggest one in the family |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |language=en |volume=10 |issue=6 |article-number=e1597 |bibcode=2024PPal...10E1597B |doi=10.1002/spp2.1597 |issn=2056-2799 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
{{gallery|Jumbo_size_comparison.jpg|Skeleton of an [[African bush elephant]] (''Loxodonta africana'') bull|M. trogontherii skeletal (cropped).png|Skeleton of a [[steppe mammoth]] (''Mammuthus trogontherii'') in front-on (without head) side-on and top-down views|Asian_elephant_size_comparison.jpg|Skeleton of an [[Asian elephant]] (''Elephas maximus'')|Palaeoloxodon_antiquus_size_comparison.png|Skeleton of a [[straight-tusked elephant]] (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'') bull|Palaeoloxodon falconeri Size Comparison.svg
|Size comparison of ''[[Palaeoloxodon falconeri]]'' a [[dwarf elephant]] species from Sicily, and one of the smallest elephantids known|||width=185|height=|lines=|align=center|title=Gallery of elephantid skeletons}}

== Ecology ==
{{Further information|Elephant#Behaviour and ecology}}
Living female and juvenile elephants live in [[Matriarchy|matriarchal]] (female-led) herds of related individuals, with males leaving these groups to live solitarily or in loose male bonding groups upon reaching adolescence around 14–15 years of age.<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last1=Neto de Carvalho |first1=Carlos |last2=Belaústegui |first2=Zain |last3=Toscano |first3=Antonio |last4=Muñiz |first4=Fernando |last5=Belo |first5=João |last6=Galán |first6=Jose María |last7=Gómez |first7=Paula |last8=Cáceres |first8=Luis M. |last9=Rodríguez-Vidal |first9=Joaquín |last10=Cunha |first10=Pedro Proença |last11=Cachão |first11=Mario |last12=Ruiz |first12=Francisco |last13=Ramirez-Cruzado |first13=Samuel |last14=Giles-Guzmán |first14=Francisco |last15=Finlayson |first15=Geraldine |date=2021-09-16 |title=First tracks of newborn straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=17311 |bibcode=2021NatSR..1117311N |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-96754-1 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=8445925 |pmid=34531420}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=LaDue |first1=Chase A. |last2=Schulte |first2=Bruce A. |last3=Kiso |first3=Wendy K. |last4=Freeman |first4=Elizabeth W. |date=2021-09-17 |title=Musth and sexual selection in elephants: a review of signalling properties and potential fitness consequences |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10120 |journal=Behaviour |volume=159 |issue=3–4 |pages=207–242 |doi=10.1163/1568539x-bja10120 |issn=0005-7959|doi-access=free }}</ref> Evidence has been found that extinct elephantids, including the most primitive elephantid, ''[[Stegotetrabelodon]]'', also lived in herds based on footprint tracks.<ref name=":20" /><ref>{{Citation |last1=Bibi |first1=Faysal |title=Fossil Trackways of the Baynunah Formation |date=2022 |work=Sands of Time |pages=283–298 |editor-last=Bibi |editor-first=Faysal |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-83883-6_17 |access-date=2024-01-18 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-83883-6_17 |isbn=978-3-030-83882-9 |last2=Kraatz |first2=Brian |last3=J. Beech |first3=Mark |last4=Hill |first4=Andrew |editor2-last=Kraatz |editor2-first=Brian |editor3-last=Beech |editor3-first=Mark J. |editor4-last=Hill |editor4-first=Andrew|url-access=subscription }}</ref> From around the age of 20, adult male elephants peridiodically enter a state of heightened aggression known as [[musth]], where stronger males assert dominance over weaker males, on rare occasions breaking out into fights between rival males.<ref name=":0" /> Analysis of testosterone levels in [[woolly mammoth]] (''Mammuthus primigenius'') tusks indicates that they also went into musth,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cherney |first1=Michael D. |last2=Fisher |first2=Daniel C. |last3=Auchus |first3=Richard J. |last4=Rountrey |first4=Adam N. |last5=Selcer |first5=Perrin |last6=Shirley |first6=Ethan A. |last7=Beld |first7=Scott G. |last8=Buigues |first8=Bernard |last9=Mol |first9=Dick |last10=Boeskorov |first10=Gennady G. |last11=Vartanyan |first11=Sergey L. |last12=Tikhonov |first12=Alexei N. |date=2023-05-18 |title=Testosterone histories from tusks reveal woolly mammoth musth episodes |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06020-9 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=617 |issue=7961 |pages=533–539 |doi=10.1038/s41586-023-06020-9 |bibcode=2023Natur.617..533C |issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and healed wounds to some [[straight-tusked elephant]] (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'') skeletons may have been the result of fighting between rival males.<ref>MR Palombo, E Albayrak, F Marano (2010) The straight-tusked Elephants from Neumark Nord, a glance to a lost world. In: Meller H (ed) Elefantenreich—eine Fossilwelt in Europa. Archäologie in Sachsen-Anhalt, Sonderband, Halle-Saale, pp 219–247 (p. 237 for relevant content)</ref> The earliest elephantid, ''Stegotetrabelodon'', was a mixed feeder to a [[Grazing (behaviour)|grazer]] based on dental [[mesowear]] analysis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Saarinen |first1=Juha |last2=Lister |first2=Adrian M. |date=2023-08-14 |title=Fluctuating climate and dietary innovation drove ratcheted evolution of proboscidean dental traits |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |language=en |volume=7 |issue=9 |pages=1490–1502 |doi=10.1038/s41559-023-02151-4 |issn=2397-334X |pmc=10482678 |pmid=37580434 |bibcode=2023NatEE...7.1490S }}</ref> Modern elephants are [[Browsing (herbivory)|browsers]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cerling |first1=Thure E. |last2=Harris |first2=John M. |last3=Leakey |first3=Meave G. |date=1999-08-20 |title=Browsing and grazing in elephants: the isotope record of modern and fossil proboscideans |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s004420050869 |journal=Oecologia |volume=120 |issue=3 |pages=364–374 |doi=10.1007/s004420050869 |bibcode=1999Oecol.120..364C |issn=0029-8549|url-access=subscription }}</ref> to mixed feeders.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Koirala |first1=Raj Kumar |last2=Raubenheimer |first2=David |last3=Aryal |first3=Achyut |last4=Pathak |first4=Mitra Lal |last5=Ji |first5=Weihong |date=December 2016 |title=Feeding preferences of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in Nepal |journal=BMC Ecology |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1 |article-number=54 |doi=10.1186/s12898-016-0105-9 |doi-access=free |issn=1472-6785 |pmc=5114758 |pmid=27855704 |bibcode=2016BMCE...16...54K }}</ref> Some extinct elephantids, like ''[[Palaeoloxodon recki]]'' and the woolly mammoth, were dedicated grazers.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last1=Manthi |first1=Fredrick Kyalo |last2=Sanders |first2=William J. |last3=Plavcan |first3=J. Michael |last4=Cerling |first4=Thure E. |last5=Brown |first5=Francis H. |date=September 2020 |title=Late Middle Pleistocene Elephants from Natodomeri, Kenya and the Disappearance of Elephas (Proboscidea, Mammalia) in Africa |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10914-019-09474-9 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=483–495 |doi=10.1007/s10914-019-09474-9 |issn=1064-7554 |s2cid=198190671 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Rivals |first1=Florent |last2=Semprebon |first2=Gina M. |last3=Lister |first3=Adrian M. |date=September 2019 |title=Feeding traits and dietary variation in Pleistocene proboscideans: A tooth microwear review |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379119302641 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=219 |pages=145–153 |bibcode=2019QSRv..219..145R |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.027 |s2cid=200073388 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Classification==
{{See also|Elephants}}
[[File:Palaeoloxodon phylogeny.svg|thumb|Phylogeny of recent and [[Pleistocene|Late Pleistocene]] elephantid species, including  ''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'' and mammoths, showing the hybridisation between African forest elephants and ''Palaeoloxodon'', after Palkopoulou et al. 2018]]
[[File: Comparative view of the human and elephant frame, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, 1860.jpg|thumb|"Man, and the elephant" plate from [[Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins|Hawkins]]'s ''A comparative view of the human and animal frame'', 1860]]

[[File:Mammuthus meridionalis.JPG|thumb|Skeleton of ''[[Mammuthus meridionalis]]'' at the [[MNHN|French Museum of Natural History]]]]

Some authors have suggested to classify the family into two subfamilies, Stegotetrabelodontinae, which is monotypic, only containing ''Stegotetrabelodon'', and Elephantinae, containing all other elephantids.<ref name=":1" /> Recent genetic research has indicated that ''[[Elephas]]'' and ''[[Mammuthus]]'' are more closely related to each other than to ''[[Loxodonta]]'', with ''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'' closely related to ''Loxodonta''. ''Palaeoloxodon'' also appears to have received extensive hybridisation with the [[African forest elephant]], and to a lesser extent with mammoths.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Palkopoulou |first1=Eleftheria |last2=Lipson |first2=Mark |last3=Mallick |first3=Swapan |last4=Nielsen |first4=Svend |last5=Rohland |first5=Nadin |last6=Baleka |first6=Sina |last7=Karpinski |first7=Emil |last8=Ivancevic |first8=Atma M. |last9=To |first9=Thu-Hien |last10=Kortschak |first10=R. Daniel |last11=Raison |first11=Joy M. |date=2018-03-13 |title=A comprehensive genomic history of extinct and living elephants |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=115 |issue=11 |pages=E2566–E2574 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115E2566P |doi=10.1073/pnas.1720554115 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=5856550 |pmid=29483247 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Living species ===
*''[[Loxodonta]]'' (African)
**''L. africana'' [[African bush elephant]]
**''L. cyclotis'' [[African forest elephant]]
*''[[Elephas]]'' (Asiatic)
**''E. maximus'' [[Asian elephant]]
***''E. m. maximus'' [[Sri Lankan elephant]]
***''E. m. indicus'' [[Indian elephant]]
***''E. m. sumatranus'' [[Sumatran elephant]]
***''E. m. borneensis'' [[Borneo elephant]]
===Classification===
*'''Elephantidae'''
**Subfamily Stegotetrabelodontinae 
***†''[[Stegotetrabelodon]]'' (4 species)
**Subfamily [[Elephantinae]]
***†''[[Primelephas]]'' (2 species)
***''[[Elephas]]'' (7+ species)
***†''[[Stegoloxodon]]'' (2 species)
***''[[Loxodonta]]'' (6 species)
***†''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'' (14+ species)
***†''[[Phanagoroloxodon]]'' (1 species)
***†''[[Mammuthus]]'' (10 species)
***†''[[Stegodibelodon]]'' (1 species)
***†''[[Selenetherium]]'' (1 species)

==Evolutionary history==
[[Image:ElephEvol.jpg|thumb|Evolution of elephantids from the ancient [[Eocene]] (''bottom'') to the modern day (''top'')]]During the Late Miocene, around 10-8 million years ago, the earliest members of the family Elephantidae emerged in Afro-Arabia, having originated from gomphotheres, most likely from members of the genus ''[[Tetralophodon]]''.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Saegusa, H. |author2=Nakaya, H. |name-list-style=amp |author3=Kunimatsu, Y. |author4=Nakatsukasa, M. |author5=Tsujikawa, H. |author6=Sawada, Y. |author7=Saneyoshi, M. |author8=Sakai, T. |year=2014 |chapter=Earliest elephantid remains from the late Miocene locality, Nakali, Kenya |page=175 |chapter-url=https://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/bitstream/10238/9340/2/icmr_volume_low.pdf#page=188 |editor1=Kostopoulos, D. S. |editor2=Vlachos, E.  |editor3=Tsoukala, E. |title=VIth International Conference on Mammoths and Their Relatives |volume=102 |location=Thessaloniki |publisher=School of Geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki |isbn=978-960-9502-14-6}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Sanders |first=William J. |title=Proboscidea from the Baynunah Formation |date=2022 |work=Sands of Time |series=Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology |pages=141–177 |editor-last=Bibi |editor-first=Faysal |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-83883-6_10 |access-date=2025-04-17 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-83883-6_10 |isbn=978-3-030-83882-9 |editor2-last=Kraatz |editor2-first=Brian |editor3-last=Beech |editor3-first=Mark J. |editor4-last=Hill |editor4-first=Andrew|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The earliest members of the modern genera of Elephantidae appeared during the latest Miocene–early Pliocene around 6-5 million years ago. The elephantid genera ''Elephas'' (which includes the living Asian elephant) and ''Mammuthus'' (mammoths) migrated out of Africa during the late Pliocene, around 3.6 to 3.2 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Iannucci |first1=Alessio |last2=Sardella |first2=Raffaele |date=2023-02-28 |title=What Does the "Elephant-''Equus''" Event Mean Today? Reflections on Mammal Dispersal Events around the Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary and the Flexible Ambiguity of Biochronology |journal=Quaternary |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=16 |doi=10.3390/quat6010016 |bibcode=2023Quat....6...16I |doi-access=free |hdl=11573/1680082 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Mammoths then migrated into North America around 1.5 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lister |first1=A. M. |last2=Sher |first2=A. V. |date=2015 |title=Evolution and dispersal of mammoths across the Northern Hemisphere |journal=Science |volume=350 |issue=6262 |pages=805–809 |bibcode=2015Sci...350..805L |doi=10.1126/science.aac5660 |pmid=26564853 |s2cid=206639522|doi-access=free }}</ref> At the end of the Early Pleistocene, around 800,000 years ago the elephantid genus ''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'' dispersed outside of Africa, becoming widely distributed in Eurasia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lister |first=A. M. |chapter=Ecological Interactions of Elephantids in Pleistocene Eurasia |date=2004 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264788794 |title=Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor |pages=53–60 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78570-965-4}}</ref> ''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'' became extinct as part of the [[Late Pleistocene extinctions]], with mammoths only surviving in [[Relict (biology)|relict]] populations on islands around the [[Bering Strait]] into the Holocene, with their latest survival being on [[Wrangel Island]], where they persisted until around 4,000 years ago.<ref name="Cantalapiedra-2021">{{Cite journal |last1=Cantalapiedra |first1=J. L. |last2=Sanisidro |first2=Ó. |last3=Zhang |first3=H. |last4=Alberdi |first4=M. T. |last5=Prado |first5=J. L. |last6=Blanco |first6=F. |last7=Saarinen |first7=J. |date=2021 |title=The rise and fall of proboscidean ecological diversity |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01498-w |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=5 |issue=9 |pages=1266–1272 |bibcode=2021NatEE...5.1266C |doi=10.1038/s41559-021-01498-w |pmid=34211141 |s2cid=235712060|hdl=10261/249360 |hdl-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rogers |first1=R. L. |last2=Slatkin |first2=M. |date=2017 |title=Excess of genomic defects in a woolly mammoth on Wrangel island |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=13 |issue=3 |article-number=e1006601 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1006601 |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=5333797 |pmid=28253255 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[Deinotherium]]''
* [[Embrithopoda]]
* ''[[Eritherium#History of discovery|Eritherium azzouzorum]]''
* ''[[Zygolophodon]]''
* ''[[Palaeoloxodon namadicus]]''
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Wikispecies-inline}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2372824}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Proboscidea Genera}}

[[Category:Elephantidae| ]]
[[Category:Extant Pliocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Mammal families]]
[[Category:Proboscideans]]
[[Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray]]
[[Category:Elephants]]