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==Description==
[[File:Fauna antiqua sivalensis Plate 12A (1847) (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Fragmentary skull of a female individual, showing parieto-occipital crest at the top of the skull]]
[[File:Palaeoloxodon namadicus-bpk.jpg|left|thumb|Life restoration]]Some authorities historically regarded ''P. namadicus'' and the European [[straight-tusked elephant]] (''P. antiquus'') as the same species due to their similar skull morphology.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ferretti |first1=M.P. |date=May 2008 |title=The dwarf elephant Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis from Puntali Cave, Carini (Sicily; late Middle Pleistocene): Anatomy, systematics and phylogenetic relationships |journal=Quaternary International |volume=182 |issue=1 |pages=90–108 |bibcode=2008QuInt.182...90F |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2007.11.003}}</ref> ''P. namadicus'' shares similarities to other species of ''[[Palaeoloxodon]],'' which includes a large crest (the parieto-occipital crest) at the top of the skull that anchored the [[splenius muscles]] used to support the head, which is more developed in males than in females. Later research suggested that ''P. namadicus'' can be distinguished from ''P. antiquus'' by its less [[Robustness (morphology)|robust]] (more elongate) limb bones and more stout cranium (including a better developed parieto-occipital crest), and the presence of a depression in the infraorbital region behind the eyesocket not found in ''P. antiquus''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Larramendi |first1=Asier |last2=Zhang |first2=Hanwen |last3=Palombo |first3=Maria Rita |last4=Ferretti |first4=Marco P. |date=February 2020 |title=The evolution of Palaeoloxodon skull structure: Disentangling phylogenetic, sexually dimorphic, ontogenetic, and allometric morphological signals |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=229 |pages=106090 |bibcode=2020QSRv..22906090L |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106090 |s2cid=213676377}}</ref> Like other large ''Palaeoloxodon'' species, the tusks were likely proportionally large, though no known complete tusks are known. One partial tusk was estimated to be {{Convert|3.66|m|ft}} long and over {{Convert|120|kg|lb}} in weight when complete, larger than the largest recorded [[African bush elephant]] tusk.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Larramendi |first=Asier |date=2023-12-10 |title=Estimating tusk masses in proboscideans: a comprehensive analysis and predictive model |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2023.2286272 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2023.2286272 |issn=0891-2963}}</ref>[[File:Fauna antiqua sivalensis Plate 12A (1847) (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Fragmentary skull of a female individual, showing parieto-occipital crest at the top of the skull]]
 
=== Size ===
[[File:Namadicus size comparison.png|thumb|Size comparsioncomparison of the Sagauni 1 specimen, estimated to be 4.35 metres tall, compared to a human|left]]
''Palaeoloxodon namadicus'' is the largest species in the genus ''Palaeoloxodon'' and one of the largest known proboscideans, and considerably larger than living elephants. A 2015 study by Asier Larramendi attempted to estimate the size of ''P. namadicus'', as well as other prehistoric proboscideans. Based on a fragmentary skeleton of an adult male, comprising two femurs (the left one of which was measured to be around {{Convert|1.6|m|ft}} in length when excavated in 1834), a left ulna and a right humerus, from Sagauni in [[Narsinghpur district]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], Larramendi [[extrapolated]] a shoulder height of {{convert|4.35|m|ft|1}} and a weight of {{convert|13|t|ST|1lb|abbr=}} for this individual.<ref name="probos_mass" />▼
[[File:Largest land mammals size chart.jpg|thumb|Highly speculative size estimate of ''P. namadicus'' based on a lost partial femur measured in the 19th century, compared to a [[paracerathere]]]]
▲A 2015 study by Asier Larramendi attempted to estimate the size of ''P. namadicus'', as well as other prehistoric proboscideans. Based on a fragmentary skeleton of an adult male, comprising two femurs (the left one of which was measured to be around {{Convert|1.6|m|ft}} in length when excavated in 1834), a left ulna and a right humerus, from Sagauni in [[Narsinghpur district]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], Larramendi [[extrapolated]] a shoulder height of {{convert|4.35|m|ft|1}} and a weight of {{convert|13|t|ST|1|abbr=}} for this individual.<ref name="probos_mass" />
 
A fragmentary lower portion of a femur described in 1834 in the same publication that described the femurs of the Sagauni specimen, stated that this femur was almost a quarter larger than that from Sagauni. Assuming it was about 20% larger, Larramendi calculated an extrapolated femur length of {{convert|1.9|m|ft}} and a speculative size estimate of {{convert|5.2|m|ft|1}} tall at the shoulder and {{convert|22|t|ST|1lb|abbr=}} in body mass, which if correct would make ''P. namadicus'' possibly the largest land mammal ever, exceeding even [[Paraceratheriidae|paraceratheres]] in size. However, this estimate should be "taken with [[a grain of salt]]", as Larramendi stated that he could not locate the specimen, but speculated that it may be stored in the Indian Museum of Kolkata.<ref name="probos_mass">{{cite journal |last1=Larramendi |first1=Asier |date=2015 |title=Proboscideans: Shoulder Height, Body Mass and Shape |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |doi=10.4202/app.00136.2014 |doi-access=free}}</ref>[[File:Largest land mammals size chart.jpg|thumb|Highly speculative size estimate of ''P. namadicus'' based on a lost partial femur measured in the 19th century, compared to a [[paracerathere]]]]In 2023, a publication by [[Gregory S. Paul]] and Larramendi estimated that another specimen identified as cf. ''P. namadicus,'' also only known from a partial femur, would have weighed {{convert|18-19|t|lb|abbr=}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Paul |first1=Gregory S. |last2=Larramendi |first2=Asier |date=June 9, 2023 |title=Body mass estimate of Bruhathkayosaurus and other fragmentary sauropod remains suggest the largest land animals were about as big as the greatest whales |url=https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.18261/let.56.2.5 |journal=Lethaia |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.18261/let.56.2.5 |bibcode=2023Letha..56..2.5P |access-date=June 9, 2023}}</ref> Other authors have noted that weight estimates for proboscideans based on single bones can lead to estimates that are "highly improbable" compared to accurate estimates from complete skeletons.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Romano |first1=Marco |last2=Bellucci |first2=Luca |last3=Antonelli |first3=Matteo |last4=Manucci |first4=Fabio |last5=Palombo |first5=Maria Rita |date=2023-06-13 |title=Body mass estimate of ''Anancus arvernensis'' (Croizet and Jobert 1828): comparison of the regression and volumetric methods |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jqs.3549 |journal=Journal of Quaternary Science |volume=38 |issue=8 |pages=1357–1381 |language=en |doi=10.1002/jqs.3549 |bibcode=2023JQS....38.1357R |issn=0267-8179}}</ref> In 2024, Biswas, Chang and Tsai estimated a maximum shoulder height of over {{convert|4.5|m|ft}} and suggested that the body mass for 5 measured specimens ranged from {{convert|13.2 to 18.5|tonnes|lb}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Biswas |first1=Deep Shubhra |last2=Chang |first2=Chun-Hsiang |last3=Tsai |first3=Cheng-Hsiu |date=July 2024 |title=Land of the giants: Body mass estimates of Palaeoloxodon from the Pleistocene of Taiwan |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=336 |pages=108761 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108761|doi-access=free |bibcode=2024QSRv..33608761B }} [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379124002622#appsec1 Supplementary Data]</ref>
 
In 2023, Paul and Larramendi estimated that another specimen identified as cf. ''P. namadicus,'' also only known from a partial femur, would have weighed {{convert|18-19|t|ST|1|abbr=}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Paul |first1=Gregory S. |last2=Larramendi |first2=Asier |date=June 9, 2023 |title=Body mass estimate of Bruhathkayosaurus and other fragmentary sauropod remains suggest the largest land animals were about as big as the greatest whales |url=https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.18261/let.56.2.5 |journal=Lethaia |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.18261/let.56.2.5 |access-date=June 9, 2023}}</ref> Other authors have noted that weight estimates for proboscideans based on single bones can lead to estimates that are "highly improbable" compared to accurate estimates from complete skeletons.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Romano |first1=Marco |last2=Bellucci |first2=Luca |last3=Antonelli |first3=Matteo |last4=Manucci |first4=Fabio |last5=Palombo |first5=Maria Rita |date=2023-06-13 |title=Body mass estimate of ''Anancus arvernensis'' (Croizet and Jobert 1828): comparison of the regression and volumetric methods |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jqs.3549 |journal=Journal of Quaternary Science |volume=38 |issue=8 |pages=1357–1381 |language=en |doi=10.1002/jqs.3549 |issn=0267-8179}}</ref>
 
== Ecology ==
[[File:Palaeoloxodon namadicus-bpk.jpg|thumb|Life restoration]]Fossils of ''Palaeoloxodon namadicus'' are known from the northern and central Indian subcontinent, including the [[Narmada River|Narmada]] and [[Godavari River|Godavari]] valleys, and the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghosh |first=Rupa |last2=Sehgal |first2=R. K. |last3=Srivastava |first3=Pradeep |last4=Shukla |first4=U. K. |last5=Nanda |first5=A. C. |last6=Singh |first6=D. S. |date=November 2016 |title=Discovery of Elephas cf. namadicus from the late Pleistocene strata of Marginal Ganga Plain |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12594-016-0521-7 |journal=Journal of the Geological Society of India |language=en |volume=88 |issue=5 |pages=559–568 |doi=10.1007/s12594-016-0521-7 |issn=0016-7622}}</ref> Based on [[stable isotope ratio]]s of carbon and oxygen and the morphology of their teeth, it is suggested that ''P. namadicus'' tended towardshad a [[Grazing (behaviour)|grazing]]-mixed feeding diet,<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Maurya |first1=Sakshi |last2=Ghosh |first2=Rupa |last3=Sehgal |first3=Ramesh Kumar |last4=Srivastava |first4=Pradeep |last5=Shukla |first5=Uma Kant |last6=Singh |first6=Abhishek Pratap |last7=Sarangi |first7=Shushanta |date=September 2022 |title=Stable Isotopic studies of the herbivorous mammals from the Marginal Ganga Plain, India: implication for the palaeo-environmental reconstruction |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gj.4522 |journal=Geological Journal |language=en |volume=57 |issue=9 |pages=3935–3948 |doi=10.1002/gj.4522 |issn=0072-1050}}</ref> with a specimen found on the banks of the [[Dhasan River]] suggested to have primarily consumed [[C4 carbon fixation|C<sub>4</sub>]] grasses.<ref name=":5" /> The species is suggested to have primarily inhabited open [[grassland]] habitats.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> Its arrival on the subcontinent coincides with a shift in the diet of contemporaneous ''[[Elephas hysudricus]]'' (the ancestor of the living [[Asian elephant]]) from a grazing diet towards [[Browsing (herbivory)|browsing]]-mixed feeding, possibly as a result of [[niche partitioning]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Patnaik |first1=Rajeev |last2=Singh |first2=Ningthoujam Premjit |last3=Paul |first3=Debajyoti |last4=Sukumar |first4=Raman |date=2019-11-15 |title=Dietary and habitat shifts in relation to climate of Neogene-Quaternary proboscideans and associated mammals of the Indian subcontinent |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027737911930263X |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=224 |pages=105968 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105968 |bibcode=2019QSRv..22405968P |issn=0277-3791 |s2cid=210307849}}</ref>
 
== Evolution and extinction ==
''P. namadicus'' is primarily known from the Indian subcontinent.<ref name=":0" /> Remains attributed to ''P. namadicus'' have also been reported across Southeast Asia (including Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam, and the island of [[Sulawesi]] in Indonesia) and as well as China.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Louys |first1=Julien |last2=Curnoe |first2=Darren |last3=Tong |first3=Haowen |date=January 2007 |title=Characteristics of Pleistocene megafauna extinctions in Southeast Asia |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018206004032 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=243 |issue=1–2 |pages=152–173 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.07.011|bibcode=2007PPP...243..152L }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Geer |first1=Alexandra A. E. |last2=Bergh |first2=Gerrit D. |last3=Lyras |first3=George A. |last4=Prasetyo |first4=Unggul W. |last5=Due |first5=Rokus Awe |last6=Setiyabudi |first6=Erick |last7=Drinia |first7=Hara |date=August 2016 |title=The effect of area and isolation on insular dwarf proboscideans |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.12743 |journal=Journal of Biogeography |language=en |volume=43 |issue=8 |pages=1656–1666 |doi=10.1111/jbi.12743 |bibcode=2016JBiog..43.1656V |issn=0305-0270 |s2cid=87958022}}</ref> However, the status of Chinese ''Palaeoloxodon'' is unresolved, with other authors considering the remains to belong to ''[[P. naumanni]]'' (otherwise known from Japan) or the separate species ''[[Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis|P. huaihoensis]]''. The postcranial remains of ''Palaeoloxodon'' from China are substantially more robust than Indian ''P. namadicus'' and in many respects are more similar to those of ''P. antiquus'' and their skulls lack the infraorbital depression characteristic of Indian ''P. namadicus'' specimens'','' making their referral to ''P. namadicus'' questionable.<ref name=":0" />
 
The oldest specimens of ''P. namadicus'' in India are thought to be over 700,000 years old, dating to the early Middle Pleistocene,<ref name=":0" /> having evolved, like other Eurasian ''Palaeoloxodon'' species from a migration of a population of ''[[Palaeoloxodon recki]]'' out of Africa.<ref>{{Citation |last=Lister |first=Adrian M. |title=Ecological Interactions of Elephantids in Pleistocene Eurasia |date=2004 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264788794 |work=Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor |pages=53–60 |access-date=2020-04-14 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78570-965-4}}</ref> ''Palaeoloxodon namadicus'' is thought to have become [[extinct]] during the [[Late Pleistocene]], making it one of four [[megafauna]] species native to the Indian subcontinent suggested to have become extinct during the Late Pleistocene, alongside fellow [[proboscidea]]n ''[[Stegodon|Stegodon namadicus]]'', the equine ''[[Equus namadicus]]'', and the hippopotamus ''[[Hexaprotodon]],'' along with the local extinction of [[Ostrich|ostriches]], as part of a [[Late Pleistocene extinctions|global wave of megafaunal extinctions]] during the Late Pleistocene.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Jukar |first1=A.M. |last2=Lyons |first2=S.K. |last3=Wagner |first3=P.J. |last4=Uhen |first4=M.D. |date=January 2021 |title=Late Quaternary extinctions in the Indian Subcontinent |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=562 |pages=110137 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.110137 |s2cid=228877664 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2021PPP...56210137J }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Turvey |first1=Samuel T. |last2=Sathe |first2=Vijay |last3=Crees |first3=Jennifer J. |last4=Jukar |first4=Advait M. |last5=Chakraborty |first5=Prateek |last6=Lister |first6=Adrian M. |date=January 2021 |title=Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in India: How much do we know? |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379120307022 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=252 |pages=106740 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106740 |bibcode=2021QSRv..25206740T |s2cid=234265221}}</ref> The exact time of extinction of these taxa is unclear due to the uncertantiesuncertainties regarding dating, but indirect dating from several sites suggests that ''P. namadicus'' became extinct within the last 50,000 years, with some records possibly as late as 25,000 years ago, implying that ''P. namadicus'' overlapped with modern humans in the region.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />▼
 
== Relationship with humans ==
▲The oldest specimens of ''P. namadicus'' in India are thought to be over 700,000 years old, dating to the early Middle Pleistocene,<ref name=":0" /> having evolved, like other Eurasian ''Palaeoloxodon'' species from a migration of a population of ''[[Palaeoloxodon recki]]'' out of Africa.<ref>{{Citation |last=Lister |first=Adrian M. |title=Ecological Interactions of Elephantids in Pleistocene Eurasia |date=2004 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264788794 |work=Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor |pages=53–60 |access-date=2020-04-14 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78570-965-4}}</ref> ''Palaeoloxodon namadicus'' is thought to have become [[extinct]] during the [[Late Pleistocene]], making it one of four [[megafauna]] species native to the Indian subcontinent suggested to have become extinct during the Late Pleistocene, alongside fellow [[proboscidea]]n ''[[Stegodon|Stegodon namadicus]]'', the equine ''[[Equus namadicus]]'', and the hippopotamus ''[[Hexaprotodon]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jukar |first1=A.M. |last2=Lyons |first2=S.K. |last3=Wagner |first3=P.J. |last4=Uhen |first4=M.D. |date=January 2021 |title=Late Quaternary extinctions in the Indian Subcontinent |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=562 |pages=110137 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.110137 |s2cid=228877664 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2021PPP...56210137J }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Turvey |first1=Samuel T. |last2=Sathe |first2=Vijay |last3=Crees |first3=Jennifer J. |last4=Jukar |first4=Advait M. |last5=Chakraborty |first5=Prateek |last6=Lister |first6=Adrian M. |date=January 2021 |title=Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in India: How much do we know? |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379120307022 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=252 |pages=106740 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106740 |bibcode=2021QSRv..25206740T |s2cid=234265221}}</ref> The exact time of extinction of these taxa is unclear due to the uncertanties regarding dating, but indirect dating from several sites suggests that ''P. namadicus'' became extinct within the last 50,000 years.<ref name=":1" />
There is little direct evidence for human interaction with ''P. namadicus.'' One of the only Middle Pleistocene sites for which there is evidence for human interaction with elephants in the Indian subcontinent is from Galander, near [[Pampore]] in the [[Kashmir Valley]], where an individual of ''Palaeoloxodon'' indeterminate to species, which has a weak parietal-occipital crest much different from individuals typically attributed to ''P. namadicus,'' was found to have its bones delibrately fractured by humans using stone tools, possibly for the purposes of butchery. At the site [[Mousterian|Mode III]]-grade tools made of basalt were found, suggesting a late Middle Pleistocene age (approximately 400-130,000 years ago) for the site. There is no evidence that the elephant was hunted, and it may have been scavenged after dying of natural causes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bhat |first1=Ghulam M. |last2=Ashton |first2=Nick |last3=Parfitt |first3=Simon |last4=Jukar |first4=Advait |last5=Dickinson |first5=Marc R. |last6=Thusu |first6=Bindra |last7=Craig |first7=Jonathan |date=October 2024 |title=Human exploitation of a straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon) in Middle Pleistocene deposits at Pampore, Kashmir, India |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379124003950 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=342 |pages=108894 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108894|doi-access=free }}</ref>
 
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7126427}}
 
[[Category:Palaeoloxodon|namadicus]]
[[Category:Pleistocene proboscideans]]
[[Category:Pleistocene mammals of Asia]]
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