| Welcome to Carnivora. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| North African Elephant - Loxodonta africana pharaoensis | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 6 2013, 03:22 AM (2,257 Views) | |
| Ausar | Nov 6 2013, 03:22 AM Post #1 |
|
Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
North African Elephant - Loxodonta africana pharaoensis Conservation status: Extinct (c. 100) Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Proboscidea Family: Elephantidae Genus: Loxodonta Species: L. africana Subspecies: Loxodonta africana pharaoensis The North African elephant (Loxodonta africana pharaoensis) was a possible subspecies of the African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana), or possibly a separate elephant species, that existed in North Africa until becoming extinct in Ancient Roman times. These were the famous war elephants used by Carthage in the Punic Wars, their conflict with the Roman Republic. Although the subspecies has been formally described, it has not been widely recognized by taxonomists. Other names for this animal include the North African forest elephant, Carthaginian elephant, and Atlas elephant. Originally, its natural range probably extended across North Africa and down to the present Sudanese and Eritrean coasts. Description Carthaginian frescoes and coins minted by whoever controlled North Africa at various times show very small (perhaps 2.5 metres or 8 feet 2 inches at the shoulder) elephants with the large ears and concave back typical of modern Loxodonta. The North African elephant was smaller than the modern African Bush Elephant (L. a. africana), probably similar in size to the modern African Forest Elephant (L. cyclotis). It is also possible that it was more docile than the African Bush Elephant, which is generally untamable, allowing the Carthaginians to tame it by a method now lost to history. Modern scholarship has disputed whether or not Carthaginian elephants were furnished with turrets in combat; despite assertions to the contrary, the evidence indicates that African Forest Elephant could and did carry turrets in certain military contexts. History After they conquered Sicily in 242 BC, the Romans wanted to capture some specimens that had been left behind in the middle of the island by the Carthaginians, but failed in the endeavor. The elephants with which Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps in order to invade Italy during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) belonged to this group, with the exception of Hannibal's personal animal, Surus (meaning "the Syrian," or possibly "One-Tusker"). This individual, according to his documented name and large size, may have been a specimen of the huge westernmost subspecies (Elephas maximus asurus) of the Asian Elephant, also now extinct. The North African elephant was also trained and used by the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. Writing in the 2nd century BC, Polybius (The Histories; 5.83) described their inferiority in battle against the larger Indian elephants used by the Seleucid kings. A surviving Ptolemaic inscription enumerates three types of war elephant, the "Troglodytic" (probably Libyan), the "Ethiopian", and the "Indian". The Ptolemaic king prides himself with being the first to tame the Ethiopian elephants, a stock which could be identical to one of the two extant African species. It is believed that L. a. pharaonensis must have become extinct some decades after the Roman conquest of North Africa (perhaps in the 2nd century BC), due to overhunting for use in venatio games.[citation needed] Some authorities believe that small populations may have survived along the Sudanese and Eritrean coasts until the mid-19th century, but if so, these are now certainly extinct. Given the relatively recent date of its disappearance, the status of this population can probably be resolved through ancient DNA sequence analyses, if specimens of definite North African origin are located and examined.
Edited by Taipan, Nov 16 2013, 01:54 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| thesporerex | Nov 7 2013, 07:26 AM Post #2 |
|
Kleptoparasite
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I have always wondered why war elephants in pictures looked much different to african bush elephants and asian elephants. These Elephants look fucking epic but it doesn't make sense why they would hunt the war elephants that were a valuble creature to use in war.
Edited by thesporerex, Nov 7 2013, 07:28 AM.
|
![]() |
|
| Ausar | Nov 7 2013, 07:47 AM Post #3 |
|
Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I guess they just felt use in entertainment>use in war. |
![]() |
|
| Scalesofanubis | Nov 8 2013, 04:09 AM Post #4 |
|
Omnivore
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
There is also the problem that they didn't (just like they don't) tend to breed elephants in captivity. The things are pregnant for two years and the calves take at least a decade to mature. Also, war elephants tend to get killed a lot, so you almost might as well be hunting them. |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Extinct Animals · Next Topic » |





![]](http://b2.ifrm.com/28122/87/0/p701956/pipright.png)




12:02 AM Jul 12