Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • 2 - Elephant Evolution

  • Shermin R. de Silva, University of California, San Diego
  • Book:
    Elephants
    Published online:
    12 December 2024
    Print publication:
    19 December 2024, pp 13-32

  • Summary

    A bird’s eye view of the ancestral traits of proboscideans, both facilitated and constrained by their large body sizes. A sweeping journey starting with the origins of the extant elephants in Africa, their niche diversification and eventual genetic speciation owing to changes in climate, diet, and distributions. A deep dive into genetics takes us blow by blow into the fierce scientific debate concerning the species status of elephants in Africa as well as the extinct and extant species in Asia. The divergence between the Loxodonta and Elephas clades, today represented by just three living species, is thrown into relief against this long evolutionary story, with selective pressures imposed both by the environment and other species – including their most notable predators, humans. Multiple hypotheses offer competing explanations for the origins and maintenance of sociality in elephants, as well as the threats that brought about their extinction in the past and threaten to do so in the present.