African elephant
African elephants were thought to be one species until very recently. What were previously thought to be subspecies are now categorised as the bush, or savannah, elephant and the forest elephant.
Species
African bush elephant (africana)African bush elephants are the largest living land mammals. The biggest ever recorded was a bull that weighed 10 tonnes and stood 4m at the shoulder.
Forest elephant (cyclotis)Forest elephants were thought to be a subspecies of the African elephant, but recent research has discovered that they are a separate species. Forest elephants have straighter tusks and more rounded ears than African savannah elephants.
Earth News
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African elephant is two species
Researchers say there is genetic evidence to show that Africa's elephants form two separate species.
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Bees to make elephants 'buzz off'
The buzz of angry bees could provide some relief for African villagers whose crop fields are regularly pillaged by hungry elephants.
More news stories
About
African elephants are the species of elephants in the genus Loxodonta (Greek for 'oblique-sided tooth'), one of the two existing genera in Elephantidae. Although it is commonly believed that the genus was named by Georges Cuvier in 1825, Cuvier spelled it Loxodonte. An anonymous author romanized the spelling to Loxodonta and the ICZN recognizes this as the proper authority.
Fossil Loxodonta have only been found in Africa, where they developed in the middle Pliocene.
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Elsewhere on the web
- Loxodonta (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- IUCN Red List information (iucnredlist.org)
- african elephant (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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