Palaeoloxodon falconeri
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Palaeoloxodon falconeri Temporal range: Late to Holocene |
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| Mounted skeleton, Nebraska State Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | Elephantidae |
| Genus: | Palaeoloxodon |
| Species: | P. falconeri |
| Binomial name | |
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Palaeoloxodon falconeri Busk, 1867 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Elephas falconeri Busk, 1867 |
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Elephas falconeri Busk, 1867
Palaeoloxodon falconeri (formerly Elephas falconeri, or more commonly as the Pygmy elephant) is an extinct Siculo-Maltese species of elephant that has derived from the Straight-tusked elephant.
In 1867, George Busk had proposed the species Elephas falconeri for many of the smallest molars selected from the material originally ascribed by Hugh Falconer to Palaeoloxodon melitensis.
This island-bound elephant was an example of insular dwarfism, with an adult male specimen MPUR/V n1 measured 96.5 cm (3 ft 2.0 in) in shoulder height and weighed about 305 kg (672 lb), and an adult female specimen MPUR/V n2 measured 80 cm (2 ft 7.5 in) in shoulder height and weighed about 168 kg (370 lb).P. falconeri's ancestors most likely reached the Mediterranean islands during a period of maximum when the sea levels were around 100 m (328 ft) lower, that significantly reduced distances and opened land bridges in between islands and from and to the mainland.
The belief in Cyclopes may be originated in P. falconeri skulls found in Sicily. As early as the 14th century, scholars had noted that the nasal cavity could be mistaken for a singular giant eye socket.
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