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'''Elephas recki''' is an enormous, extinct species of elephant. At up to 15 feet (4,5 meter) in shoulder height, it was the largest elephant species to have ever lived, even bigger than the Columbian Mammoth. It lived in Africa between 3.5 and 1 million years ago. Although fossils have only been found in the eastern part of the continent, it is believed that ''E. recki'' ranged throughout Africa. The Asian Elephant is the only extant member of the genus.

Contents

Subspecies

References

Subspecies

M. Beden ^[1][2][3] identified five subspecies of ''Elephas recki'', from oldest to youngest:

★ ''Elephas recki brumpti'' Beden, 1980

★ ''Elephas recki shungurensis'' Beden, 1980

★ ''Elephas recki atavus'' Arambourg, 1947

★ ''Elephas recki ileretensis'' Beden, 1987

★ ''Elephas recki recki'' (Dietrich, 1916)
New research indicates that the ranges for all five subspecies overlap, and that they are not separated in time as previously proposed. The research also found a wide range of morphological variation, both between the supposed subspecies and between different specimens previously identified as belonging to the same subspecies. The degree of temporal and geographical overlap, along with the morphological variation in ''Elephas recki'' suggests that the relationships between any subspecies are more complicated than previously indicated.^[4][5]

References

1. Beden, M. 1980. ''Elephas recki'' Dietrich, 1915 (Proboscidea, Elephantidae). Èvolution au cours du Plio-Pléistocène en Afrique orientale]. Geobios 13(6): 891-901. Lyon.
2. Beden, M. 1983. Family Elephantidae. In J. M. Harris (ed.), Koobi Fora Research Project. Vol. 2. The fossil Ungulates: Proboscidea, Perissodactyla, and Suidae: 40-129. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
3. Beden, M. 1987. Les faunes Plio-Pléistocène de la basse vallée de l’Omo (Éthiopie), Vol. 2: Les Eléphantidés (Mammalia-Proboscidea) (directed by Y. Coppens and F.
C. Howell): 1-162. Cahiers de Paléontologie-Travaux de Paléontologie est-africaine. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Paris.
4. Todd, N. E. 2001. African Elephas recki: Time, space and taxonomy. In: Cavarretta, G., P. Gioia, M. Mussi, and M. R. Palombo. The World of Elephants, Proceedings of the 1st International Congress. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. Rome, Italy. Online pdf
5. Todd, N. E. 2005. Reanalysis of African Elephas recki: implications for time, space and taxonomy. Quaternary International 126-128:65-72.