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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]]
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 robust (more elongate) limb bones and more stout cranium (including a better developed parieto-occipital crest).<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>
=== Size ===
[[File:Namadicus size comparison.png|thumb|Size comparison of the Sagauni 1 specimen, estimated to be 4.35 metres tall, compared to a human]]
''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|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|1|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, 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>
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