Elephant’s
evolutionary
history and
trends
Presentation
Presented To Dr. Moazama Batool
presented By group : 2
Roll No. Zoo.19135, 19140, 19143,
19150, 19166, 19170
Course title Zoogeography and paleantology
Department BS Zoology (SSDP)
Semester 8th
Session 2019-2023
Contents
▪ Taxonomy
▪ Evolutionary trends in elephants
▪ Main lines in evolution
▪ Moeritherium
▪ Palaeomastodon
▪ Dinotherium
▪ Trilophodon (Gomphotherium)
▪ Masotodons vs mammoths
▪ Elephas maximus (Asian Elephant)
▪ Loxodonta Africana(African Bush
Elephant)
▪ References
Taxonomy of Elephants
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephentidae
Genus: Elephas
Species: Elephas
Taxonomy conti….
.
The largest existing land mammal on the planet,
Elephants, have a lasting effect on each
individual who sets their eyes on them. Their
evolution over the years is just as remarkable.
Figure 1: Asian and African Elephant
Today, there are three surviving elephant’s species;
African savannah African forest
elephant elephent Asian elephent
Loxodonta Loxodonta Elephas maximus
africana cyclotis
.
Sumatran
Indian Sri Lankan
Elephas
Elephas maximus Elephas maximus
maximus
indicus maximus
sumatrensis
Evolutionary trends in elephants
Ancestors of elephants were swamp
dwelling small pig-like animals, which had
no proboscis and enlarged tusks. During
evolution as the swamps shrunk, they had to
get adapted to browsing or grazing habit on
land and underwent changes in accordingly.
Main lines in evolution
Moeritherium
Known locations: North Africa.
Time period: Priabonian of the Eocene(55.8–33.9 million
years ago) to Rupelian of the Oligocene(33.9–23 million years
ago).
Fossil representation: Many specimens.
Chemical signatures from proboscideanssil teeth reveal that at
least one species of, an ancient elephant relative, lived in an
aquatic environment. They lived during the Eocene epoch.
Moeritherium
Palaeomastodon
• Known locations: Egypt, Ethiopia & Saudi Arabia.
Time period: Throughout the Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Several individuals. Remains
of palaeomastodon are usually just of
- skull
- mandible
- two tusks in upper jaw
- incisores of lower jaw
⚫ incisors effectively form a scoop-like structure
which was likely a feeding aid.
Dinotherium
Known locations: Africa and Eurasia.
Time period: Early Miocene through to mid
Pleistocene.
Fossil representation: multiple specimens
- One of the largest elephants in fossile record
- Downward pointing short tusks
- Skull short with a flattened top
- Teeth for both shearing and grinding
Deinotherium cont...
▪ Deinotherium remains one of the largest
elephants in the fossil record, rivalling even the
big mammoths.
▪ The nasal opening is enlarged and further back
which strongly suggests that the trunk was
strong and well developed.
▪ These animals were longer than Asian elephants.
The reason why these animals went extinct was
because of climate change and human
interference (hunting).
Deinotherium
Trilophodon (Gomphotherium)
Known locations: Europe, Africa and America.
Time period: as early as the end of the Oligocene Epoch (33.9
million to 23 million years ago) to the late Pleistocene (2.6
million to 11,700 years ago) and early Holocene (11,700 years
ago to the present) epochs.
Fossil representation: Several specimens
▪ 5 m long and 2.5 m high
▪ had a trunk, or proboscis, which developed from the nose and
upper lip
▪ had four parallel tusks (two on the top jaw, two smaller ones
on the bottom jaw)
▪ Also known as trilophodons as first two molars have 3 plates
or ridges
Gomphotherium cont…
▪ Eruption of molars were ventricle
▪ Higher crowned teeth- continually ground down by chewing,
allowed the animal to consume a coarse, abrasive diet of vegetation.
▪ shovel tuskers
▪ Extinction- it declined as the diversity of true elephants increased
▪ cooling global temperatures
▪ changes in Earth’s vegetation and ecosystems
Gomphotherium
Elephant’s evolutionary tree
Mammoths
Known locations: Asia, Europe, and North America
Time period: Pleistocene-holocene epoch
Fossil representation: many individuals.
▪ attained a shoulder height of 4 metres (14 feet)
▪ Woolly Mammoths had long, dense, dark black hair,
▪ a fatty hump, and
▪ a long nose-like a trunk.
▪ They had large, elaborately curved tusks. Both the males
and females had tusks, but the females’ tusks were smaller.
The tusks began to form at birth and continued growing
throughout life.
Mammoths cont…
▪ These animals were well adapted to survive in
the icy climate.
▪ In addition to two layers of fur, they had an
insulating layer of fat to keep them warm, and
their ears were tiny, while their tail was small
to prevent heat loss.
▪ Extinction : Some think that humans hunted
too many of them, and others believe that they
couldn’t survive Earth’s naturally warming
climate. Or, it could’ve been a combination of
both.
Wooly mammoths
Elephant’s evolutionary tree
Elephas maximus
( Asian elephant)
Loxodonta africana
( African bush
elephant)
Elephas maximus( Asian elephant)
• Geographical distribution
• Habitat
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• Communication and ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
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perception
Fig 7: subspecies of Asian elephant
Elephas maximus ( Asian Elephant)
Geographical distribution
9 million square kilometer
across a large part of Asia.
Habitat
Tropic region, grassland,moist
deciduous,and scrub forest.some
time in himalaya.
Physical characters
Have grey skin covered by hairs
Largs degree of sexual dimosrphism.
Males are larger than females
Elephas maximus conti…..
Reproduction
Asian elephants are polygynous. There is male-male
competition and female selection, so not all sexually mature
males will be able to breed.
In male Asian elephants, mating is driven by a condition
.called musth. Males become aggressive towards other
males and there is increased sexual behavior. Asian
elephants have a temporal skin gland in their temples that
is periodically active. During musth, the temporal gland
and the testes become extremely enlarged.
Elephas maximus conti…..
Communication and perception
Asian elephants can perceive visual, tactile,
acoustic, and chemical signals. Their vision is
relatively weak, but visual signals are still
important in communication. Olfaction is also
important for Asian elephants. They have a very
strong sense of smell and use their trunk to reach
out and smell things
Loxodonta Africana
(African bush
elephant)
Loxodonta Africana(African bush elephant)
Geographical range
Habitat
Physical characters
Reproduction
Food habits
Loxodonta africana conti…
Geographic Range Physical characters
Habitat
A.E found in many habitats African elephants have
The African elephants of Africa such as savannas, creased, gray, immobile skin
(Loxodonta africana) is rain forests, woodlands, covered with papillae.
distributed across central scrub forests.
Thickness (up to 30 mm).
and southern Africa in the Occasionally deserts, and
beaches. Bumpy skin covers areas that
Ethiopian Region.
Main Habitat, poaching require movement. Smooth
threats protected skin found on delicate areas.
sanctuaries. Hairs varies in color, length,
and thickness found along
the body.
Loxodonta Africana conti….
Reproduction
The scent in female urine and genital area shows
that they are ready to mate. During courtship
process, bulls approach females and use their
trunk to stroke her. By chasing females bulls put
up fight for mating while retreating. When
females stop retreating, they join bulls in
stroking each other with trunks. The courtship
continues by females hindquarters to the males.
Figure 8: African Bush Elephant
Loxodonta Africana conti….
Food habits
❑ African Elephant have
herbivorous diet like tree foliage,
fruits, herbs, grasses, and wood
including roots, twigs, and bark.
Source of fiber is chewing on
bark but not digesting the bark.
In order to obtain bark or
roots,they will overturn a tree.
Predation
Due to their size, African elephants are not easy prey for many
predators.
• While lions (Panthera leo)
• wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
• hyenas (Crocuta crocuta)
• Nile crocodiles (Crocodilus niloticu)
• Humans (Homo sapiens)
Threats To survival
• Habitat loss
• Driven by conversion of land
Elephant habitats altered for use as coffee, tea, rubber, etc
• Exploitation by humans
• Poaching:Killed for their tusks
• Conflict between human and elephant populations
• Results in smaller, more fragmented elephant populations
Due to increasing human and domestic animal populations, roads,
forest exploitation, and agricultural plantations
Management actions
National parks and reserves
Protected to varying degrees within numerous protected areas
Most large populations occur within protected areas
Up to 70% of the species range is believed to lie in unprotected land
Habitat management and protection through law enforcement
Management of sport hunting
Permitted by legislative action in many countries
CITES permits export in some countries
Community-based conservation programs
Large-scale conservation interventions planned
Plans to develop conservation and management strategies at the national
and regional level
Conservation status
- Elephas maximus is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The
subspecies Elephas maximus sumatranus is Critically Endangered. Asian
Elephants are included as Endangered on The US Federal list.
- According to the IUCN Red List,
African elephants are listed as a "Vulnerable" species.
CITES appendices list African elephants in both Appendix I and Appendix
II. African elephants in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe are
listed in Appendix II, while African elephants in other countries are listed in
Appendix I.
References
❖ BioExplorer.net. (2023, February 27). Elephant Evolution. Bio
Explorer. https://www.bioexplorer.net/animals/mammals/elephant/evolution/.
BioExplorer
❖ Handwerk.B.2008. Ancient Elephant Ancestor Lived in Water, Study Finds.
❖ Furstenburg, D. 2010. Focus on the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). S
A Hunter 03038:56-59.
❖ Benoit.J. Newsweek November 30, -0001. EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF
ELEPHANTS IS BEING REWRITTEN BY A STRANGE, STRAIGHT-
TUSKED SPECIES.
Thank you…
If you have any question, you may ask.
