''Palaeoloxodon falconeri'', also known as the pygmy elephant, Maltese pygmy elephant, or Sicilian dwarf elephant, is an extinct Siculo-

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

species of elephant that was derived from the

straight-tusked elephant The straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'') is an extinct species of elephant that inhabited Europe and Western Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene (781,000–30,000 years before present). Recovered individuals have reac ...

. It is amongst the smallest of all

dwarf elephant Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea which, through the process of allopatric speciation on islands, evolved much smaller body sizes (around ) in comparison with their immediate ancestors. Dwarf elephants are an example ...

Chronology

''Palaeoloxodon'' ''falconeri'' derives from the 4 metre tall

(''P''. ''antiquus''), which arrived in Europe approximately 800,000 years ago. The oldest radiometrically dated fossils of ''Palaeoloxodon'' on Sicily date to around 500,000 years ago while the ones found in

Għar Dalam Għar Dalam ("Cave of Dalam" (a fifteenth century family name), ) is a 144 metre long phreatic tube and cave, or cul-de-sac, located in the outskirts of Birżebbuġa, Malta. The cave contains the bone remains of animals that were stranded and s ...

on Malta date to around 450,000 years ago. ''P. falconeris ancestors most likely reached

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

from the Italian mainland, likely via a series of islands that now form part of the southern

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

n peninsula. The chronology of the species compared to that of the larger endemic species of ''Palaeoloxodon'' on Sicily, the tall ''

Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis ''Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis'' is an extinct species of elephant from Malta and Sicily belonging to the genus ''Palaeoloxodon''. It is derived from the European mainland straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus''). ''P. mnaidriensis' ...

'', is somewhat uncertain. It is generally thought that ''P. falconeri'' is the earlier species dating to the

Middle Pleistocene The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. The ...

, and that ''P''. ''mnaidriensis'' descends from a separate late Middle Pleistocene colonisation of the island by ''P. antiquus.Bonfiglio, L., Marra, A. C., Masini, F., Pavia, M., & Petruso, D. (2002). Pleistocene faunas of Sicily: a review. In W. H. Waldren, & J. A. Ensenyat (Eds.), ''World islands in prehistory: international insular investigations''. British Archaeological Reports, International Series, 1095, 428–436.'' ''P. falconeri'' also occurs on Malta, but is generally shorter making it a possible subspecies. It likely dispersed to Malta from Sicily during episodes of low sea level.

Taxonomy

In 1867,

George Busk George Busk FRS FRAI (12 August 1807 – 10 August 1886) was a British naval surgeon, zoologist and palaeontologist. Early life, family and education Busk was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the son of the merchant Robert Busk and his ...

had proposed the species ''Elephas falconeri'' for many of the smallest molars selected from the material originally ascribed by

Hugh Falconer Hugh Falconer MD FRS (29 February 1808 – 31 January 1865) was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist, and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna, and geology of India, Assam,Burma,and most of the Mediterranean islands ...

to '' Palaeoloxodon melitensis'' for the Maltese dwarf elephant, a possible subspecies of ''P. falconeri''.Palombo, M.R. (2001)
''Endemic elephants of the Mediterranean Islands: knowledge, problems and perspectives''
The World of Elephants, Proceedings of the 1st International Congress (October 16–20, 2001, Rome): 486–491.

Description

This

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

-bound elephant was an example of

insular dwarfism Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is disti ...

, with an adult male specimen MPUR/V n1 measured in shoulder height and weighed about , and an adult female specimen MPUR/V n2 measured in shoulder height and weighed about . Female members of the species were tuskless.

Paleohistology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

demonstrates that despite its small size, it grew very slowly, reaching maturity at around 15 years of age, with some individuals reaching a lifespan of 68 years, comparable to full-sized elephants.

Gallery

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q727788 Palaeoloxodon Pleistocene proboscideans Pleistocene species Fossil taxa described in 1867 Pleistocene mammals of Europe Archaeological discoveries in Malta