Mammuthus creticus

Mammuthus creticus
Temporal range: Pleistocene
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Skeleton in the Netherlands
Drawing of the teeth
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephantidae
Genus: †Mammuthus
Species:
†M. creticus
Binomial name
†Mammuthus creticus
(Bate, 1907)
Synonyms

Elephas creticus Bate, 1907

Mammuthus creticus, or the Cretan dwarf mammoth, is an extinct species of dwarf mammoth endemic to Crete. It is only known from a single locality near Chania, which probably dates to the Early or Middle Pleistocene.[1] With a shoulder height of about 1 metre (3.3 ft) and a weight of about 180 kilograms (400 lb),[2] it was the smallest mammoth that ever existed.[3] Its size reduction was the result of insular dwarfism, where the body size of large mammals on islands reduces as the result of decreased food availability, predation and competition.[3] It was originally described as Elephas creticus by Dorothea Bate in 1907. After DNA research published in 2006, it was proposed to rename Elephas creticus into Mammuthus creticus (Bate, 1907).[4] Others proposed (in 2002)[5] to rename all the described specimens of larger size under the new subspecies name Elephas antiquus creutzburgi (Kuss, 1965). A 2007 study criticised the results of the 2006 DNA study, showing that the DNA research was likely flawed.[6] However, morphological data supports a placement in Mammuthus.[3][1] It probably derived from Mammuthus meridionalis, or less likely, Mammuthus rumanus.[3] It was one of only three mammal species native to Crete during the Early Pleistocene and the early Middle Pleistocene, alongside the dwarf hippopotamus Hippopotamus creutzburgi and the giant rat Kritimys.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Lyras, George A.; Athanassiou, Athanassios; van der Geer, Alexandra A. E. (2022), Vlachos, Evangelos (ed.), "The Fossil Record of Insular Endemic Mammals from Greece", Fossil Vertebrates of Greece Vol. 2, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 661–701, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-68442-6_25, ISBN 978-3-030-68441-9, retrieved 2023-02-19
  2. ^ Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Herridge, V. L.; Lister, A. M. (2012). "Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279 (1741): 3193. doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.0671. PMC 3385739. PMID 22572206.
  4. ^ Poulakakis, N.; Parmakelis, A.; Lymberakis, P.; Mylonas, M.; Zouros, E.; Reese, D. S.; Glaberman, S.; Caccone, A. (2006). "Ancient DNA forces reconsideration of evolutionary history of Mediterranean pygmy elephantids". Biology Letters. 2 (3): 451–454. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0467. PMC 1686204. PMID 17148428.
  5. ^ Poulakakis, Nikos; Mylonas, Moysis; Lymberakis, Petros; Fassoulas, Charalampos (2002). "Origin and taxonomy of the fossil elephants of the island of Crete (Greece): problems and perspectives". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Elsevier BV. 186 (1–2): 163–183. doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(02)00451-0. ISSN 0031-0182.
  6. ^ Orlando, L.; Pagés, M.; Calvignac, S.; et al. (2007-02-22). "Does the 43bp sequence from an 800000 year old Cretan dwarf elephantid really rewrite the textbook on mammoths?". Biology Letters. 3 (1): 57–59. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0536. PMC 2373798. PMID 17443966.