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{{Short description|Genus of mammals}}
{{Distinguish | Elaphus (disambiguation)}}
{{About | the elephant genus|the fictional character Lord Elephas|Deep Labyrinth}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Pliocene]] to [[Holocene|Present]] (Possible [[Late Miocene|late Miocene]] record)
| image = Elephant Sumatra ProfilG.jpg
| image_caption = [[Sumatran elephant]]
| taxon = Elephas
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = *''[[Elephas maximus]]''
*{{extinct}}''[[Elephas hysudricus]]''
*{{extinct}}''[[Elephas hysudrindicus]]''
*{{extinct}}''[[Elephas ekorensis]]''?
*{{extinct}}''[[Elephas planifrons]]''
*{{extinct}}''[[Elephas beyeri]]''?
For others, see text
| synonyms = *''Hypselephas''
*''Elephantus''
| type_species = ''[[Elephas maximus]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
}}

'''''Elephas''''' is a [[genus]] of [[elephant]]s and one of two surviving genera in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Elephantidae]], comprising one extant [[species]], the [[Asian elephant]] (''E. maximus'').<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Proboscidea | id = 11500003 |page=90 |heading=Genus ''Elephas''}}</ref> Several [[extinct]] species have been identified as belonging to the genus, extending back to the [[Pliocene]] or possibly the late [[Miocene]].

== Description ==
[[File:Em - Elephas maximus - GMZ 1.jpg|left|thumb|Skull of ''Elephas maximus'']]
[[File:Manchester Museum 2015 001 - Asian elephant.jpg|left|thumb|Skeleton of an adult male Asian elephant]]
Species of ''Elephas'' have distinct bossing of the parieto-occipital region of the skull. The [[premaxilla]]e bones containing the tusks are tapered.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Hanwen |last2=Pape |first2=Thomas |last3=Lister |first3=Adrian M. |date=2018-01-02 |title=On the type material of Elephas hysudrindicus Dubois, 1908 (Mammalia, Proboscidea) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2017.1425211 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=38 |issue=1 |article-number=e1425211 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2017.1425211 |bibcode=2018JVPal..38E5211Z |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Evolutionary history ==
Relationships of living and extinct elephantids based on DNA, after Palkopoulou et al. 2018.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |author1=Eleftheria Palkopoulou |author2=Mark Lipson |author3=Swapan Mallick |author4=Svend Nielsen |author5=Nadin Rohland |author6=Sina Baleka |author7=Emil Karpinski |author8=Atma M. Ivancevic |author9=Thu-Hien To |author10=R. Daniel Kortschak |author11=Joy M. Raison |author12=Zhipeng Qu |author13=Tat-Jun Chin |author14=Kurt W. Alt |author15=Stefan Claesson |year=2018 |title=A comprehensive genomic history of extinct and living elephants |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=115 |issue=11 |pages=E2566–E2574 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115E2566P |doi=10.1073/pnas.1720554115 |pmc=5856550 |pmid=29483247 |doi-access=free |author16=Love Dalén |author17=Ross D. E. MacPhee |author18=Harald Meller |author19=Alfred L. Roca |author20=Oliver A. Ryder |author21=David Heiman |author22=Sarah Young |author23=Matthew Breen |author24=Christina Williams |author25=Bronwen L. Aken |author26=Magali Ruffier |author27=Elinor Karlsson |author28=Jeremy Johnson |author29=Federica Di Palma |author-link29 = Federica Di Palma| author30=Jessica Alfoldi |author31=David L. Adelson |author32=Thomas Mailund |author33=Kasper Munch |author34=Kerstin Lindblad-Toh |author35=Michael Hofreiter |author36=Hendrik Poinar |author37=David Reich}}</ref>{{clade|{{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Loxodonta]]'' (African elephants) [[File:Elephas africanus - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - (white background).jpg|60 px]]
|2={{extinct}}''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'' (straight-tusked elephants) [[File:Palaeoloxodon namadicus-bpk (cropped).jpg|60 px]]
}}
|2={{clade
|1=''Elephas'' (Asian elephants) [[File:Indian elephant white background.jpg|60 px]]
|2={{extinct}}''[[Mammuthus]]'' (mammoths) [[File:Mammuthus trogontherii122DB.jpg|70 px]]
}}}}|label1=[[Elephantidae]]}}Asian elephants share a closer common ancestry with [[mammoth]]s (genus ''Mammuthus'') than they do with [[African elephant]]s (''Loxodonta'').<ref name="Fleischer2001">{{cite journal |last1=Fleischer |first1=R. C. |last2=Perry |first2=E. A. |last3=Muralidharan |first3=K. |last4=Stevens |first4=E. E. |last5=Wemmer |first5=C. M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Phylogeography of the Asian Elephant (''Elephas maximus'') based on mitochondrial DNA |journal=Evolution |volume=55 |issue=9 |pages=1882–1892 |doi=10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00837.x |pmid=11681743 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The oldest species attributed to the genus ''Elephas'' is ''E. nawataensis'' from the Late [[Miocene]]-Early [[Pliocene]] of Kenya, though the validity of this species and its relationship to ''Elephas'' has been doubted.<ref name=":3">{{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|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The oldest species widely attributed to the genus, ''[[Elephas ekorensis]]'' is known from the early-mid Pliocene (5–4.2 million years ago) of East Africa'',''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sanders |first1=William J. |last2=Haile-Selassie |first2=Yohannes |date=June 2012 |title=A New Assemblage of Mid-Pliocene Proboscideans from the Woranso-Mille Area, Afar Region, Ethiopia: Taxonomic, Evolutionary, and Paleoecological Considerations |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10914-011-9181-y |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=105–128 |doi=10.1007/s10914-011-9181-y |s2cid=254703858 |issn=1064-7554|url-access=subscription }}</ref> though the attribution of this species to ''Elephas'' has been questioned, due to a lack of shared morphological features with later ''Elephas'' species.''<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Sanders |first=William J. |date=March 2020 |title=Proboscidea from Kanapoi, Kenya |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248418303919 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=140 |page=102547 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.10.013|pmid=30745193 |bibcode=2020JHumE.14002547S |s2cid=73451588 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>'' The oldest record of the genus outside of Africa is ''[[Elephas planifrons]]'' which is known from the Late Pliocene of the Indian subcontinent, around 3.6 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 |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=16 |doi=10.3390/quat6010016 |doi-access=free |issn=2571-550X|hdl=11573/1680082 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> However, the placement of ''Elephas planifrons'' within the genus has also been questioned.<ref>H. Zhang [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwhvt5LOFro ''Elephas recki'': the wastebasket?] 66th Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy, Manchester. (2018)</ref> The earliest fossils of the ancestor of the modern Asian elephant, ''[[Elephas hysudricus]]'' date to the beginning of the Pleistocene, around 2.6 million years ago, with remains found on the Indian subcontinent.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Lister |first1=Adrian M. |last2=Dirks |first2=Wendy |last3=Assaf |first3=Amnon |last4=Chazan |first4=Michael |last5=Goldberg |first5=Paul |last6=Applbaum |first6=Yaakov H. |last7=Greenbaum |first7=Nathalie |last8=Horwitz |first8=Liora Kolska |date=September 2013 |title=New fossil remains of Elephas from the southern Levant: Implications for the evolutionary history of the Asian elephant |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S003101821300237X |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=386 |pages=119–130 |bibcode=2013PPP...386..119L |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.013|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Modern Asian elephants had evolved from ''E. hysrudicus'' by the [[Late Pleistocene]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ma |first1=Jiao |last2=Wang |first2=Yuan |last3=Jin |first3=Changzhu |last4=Hu |first4=Yaowu |last5=Bocherens |first5=Hervé |date=May 2019 |title=Ecological flexibility and differential survival of Pleistocene Stegodon orientalis and Elephas maximus in mainland southeast Asia revealed by stable isotope (C, O) analysis |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379118309648 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=212 |pages=33–44 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.021|bibcode=2019QSRv..212...33M |s2cid=135056116 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
The scientific name ''Elephas'' was proposed by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1758 who described the genus and an elephant from [[Ceylon]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Linnaei, C. |year=1760 |title=Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |volume=Tomus I |publisher=Ioannes Ioachimus Langius |location=Halae Magdeburgicae |chapter=''Elephas maximus'' |page=33 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/carolilinnaeisys11linn#page/n80/mode/1up}}</ref>
The genus is assigned to the [[proboscidea]]n family [[Elephantidae]] and is made up of one living and seven extinct species:<ref name=Maglio1973>Maglio, V.J. (1973). "Origin and evolution of the Elephantidae". ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia Volume 63''. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, pp. 149</ref>
* ''[[Asian elephant|Elephas maximus]]'' – Asian elephant<ref name = MSW3/>
** ''[[Indian elephant|Elephas maximus indicus]]'' – Indian elephant
** ''[[Sri Lankan elephant|Elephas maximus maximus]]'' – Sri Lankan elephant
** ''[[Sumatran elephant|Elephas maximus sumatranus]]'' – Sumatran elephant
** ''[[Borneo elephant|Elephas maximus borneensis]]'' – Borneo elephant, proposed but not yet recognized as valid<ref name=Fernando03>Fernando, P., Vidya, T.N.C., Payne, J., Stuewe, M., Davison, G., et al. (2003). [http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0000006 ''DNA Analysis Indicates That Asian Elephants Are Native to Borneo and Are Therefore a High Priority for Conservation'']. PLoS Biol 1 (#1): e6</ref>
The following Asian elephants were proposed as [[extinct]] subspecies, but are now considered [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonymous]] with the Indian elephant:<ref name = MSW3/>
* ''[[Javan elephant|Elephas maximus sondaicus]]'' – Javan elephant [[Extinction|†]]
* ''[[Elephants in ancient China|Elephas maximus rubridens]]'' – Chinese elephant [[Extinction|†]]
* ''[[Syrian elephant|Elephas maximus asurus]]'' – Syrian elephant [[Extinction|†]]

The following ''Elephas'' species are extinct:
* ''[[Elephas beyeri]]''? – possible dwarf elephant species described by [[Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald|von Königswald]] in 1956 from a single now lost cheek tooth found in the northern [[Philippines]].<ref>Von Königswald, G.H.R. (1956). ''Fossil mammals from the Philippines''. National Research Council of the Philippines, Manila</ref>
* ''[[Elephas ekorensis]]'' – described from the Kubi Algi Formation, [[Turkana District|Turkana]], [[Kenya]],<ref name=Maglio1973/> dating to the Early Pliocene, one of the oldest species of the genus.<ref name="Sanders-2012">{{Cite journal |last1=Sanders |first1=William J. |last2=Haile-Selassie |first2=Yohannes |date=June 2012 |title=A New Assemblage of Mid-Pliocene Proboscideans from the Woranso-Mille Area, Afar Region, Ethiopia: Taxonomic, Evolutionary, and Paleoecological Considerations |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10914-011-9181-y |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=105–128 |doi=10.1007/s10914-011-9181-y |issn=1064-7554 |s2cid=254703858|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* ''[[Elephas hysudricus]]'' – described from fossil remains found in the [[Siwalik hills|Siwalik Hills]] of the northern Indian subcontinent by [[Hugh Falconer|Falconer]] and [[Proby Cautley|Cautley]], 1845,<ref>Falconer, H. & Cautley, P. T. (1846). [https://books.google.com/books?id=0SE-AAAAcAAJ ''Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis, Being the Fossil Zoology of the Sewalik Hills'']. Smith, Elder & Company, London, pp. 64.</ref> thought to be the ancestor of the living Asian elephant.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lister |first1=Adrian M. |last2=Dirks |first2=Wendy |last3=Assaf |first3=Amnon |last4=Chazan |first4=Michael |last5=Goldberg |first5=Paul |last6=Applbaum |first6=Yaakov H. |last7=Greenbaum |first7=Nathalie |last8=Horwitz |first8=Liora Kolska |date=September 2013 |title=New fossil remains of Elephas from the southern Levant: Implications for the evolutionary history of the Asian elephant |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S003101821300237X |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=386 |pages=119–130 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.013|bibcode=2013PPP...386..119L |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* ''[[Elephas hysudrindicus]]'' – a fossil elephant of the [[Pleistocene]] of [[Java (island)|Java]] and different from ''Elephas maximus sondaicus''<ref>Hooijer, D. A. (1955). [http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/149023 ''Fossil Proboscidea from the Malay Archipelago and the Punjab'']. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 28 (#1): 1–146.</ref>
* ''[[Elephas planifrons]]'' - one of the oldest species, known from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |last1=Iannucci |first1=Alessio |last2=Sardella |first2=Raffaele |date=28 February 2023 |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 |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=16 |doi=10.3390/quat6010016 |issn=2571-550X |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=11573/1680082}}</ref>
* ''[[Elephas platycephalus]]'' a species sometimes recognised from the Pleistocene of India
* ''Elephas kiangnanensis'' a species sometimes recognised from the Early-Middle Pleistocene of China.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Hanwen |last2=Wang |first2=Yuan |last3=Janis |first3=Christine M. |last4=Goodall |first4=Robert H. |last5=Purnell |first5=Mark A. |date=July 2017 |title=An examination of feeding ecology in Pleistocene proboscideans from southern China ( Sinomastodon , Stegodon , Elephas ), by means of dental microwear texture analysis |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=445 |pages=60–70 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2016.07.011|bibcode=2017QuInt.445...60Z |doi-access=free |hdl=1983/4f6a743a-7b6d-47c8-a56a-fee7e2c515df |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>Haowen Tong & M. [[Marylène Patou-Mathis|Patou-Mathis]]. (2003). Mammoth and other proboscideans in China during the Late Pleistocene. ''Deinsea'', ''9''(1), 421–428.</ref>
* ''Elephas nawataensis'' a species of elephant known from the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene of Kenya, though other authors argue that this species is actually a synonym of ''[[Primelephas korotorensis]].''<ref name=":3" />
* ''Elephas atavus''? known from the Early Pleistocene of Africa, traditionally considered part of ''[[Palaeoloxodon recki|Elephas/Palaeoloxodon recki]]''
While formerly assigned to this genus, ''[[Elephas recki]]'', ''[[Elephas namadicus]]'', the [[straight-tusked elephant]] ''E. antiquus'' and the [[dwarf elephant]]s ''[[Elephas falconeri|E. falconeri]]'' and ''[[Elephas cypriotes|E. cypriotes]]'' are now placed in the separate genus ''[[Palaeoloxodon]],'' which is more closely related to African elephants.<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> However, some material historically assigned to ''Elephas recki'' , such as ''Elephas recki atavus,'' may be closely related to true ''Elephas,'' rather than to ''Palaeoloxodon<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=William J. |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315118918 |title=Evolution and Fossil Record of African Proboscidea |date=2023-07-07 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-315-11891-8 |edition=1 |location=Boca Raton |pages=267–293 |language=en |doi=10.1201/b20016}}</ref>'' ''[[Elephas celebensis|"Elephas" celebensis]]'' is now placed in ''[[Stegoloxodon]]''.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last1=Markov |first1=Georgi N. |last2=Saegusa |first2=Haruo |date=2008-09-01 |title=On the validity of Stegoloxodon Kretzoi, 1950 (Mammalia: Proboscidea) |url=https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.1861.1.5 |journal=Zootaxa |volume=1861 |issue=1 |page=55 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1861.1.5 |issn=1175-5334|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== References ==

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Proboscidea}}

{{Proboscidea Genera}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q310746}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Elephas| ]]
[[Category:Mammal genera]]
[[Category:Mammal genera with one living species]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]

Elephas - Revision history

imported>Hemiauchenia at 17:07, 13 November 2025