Elephas beyeri

Elephas beyeri Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Family:	Elephantidae
Genus:	Elephas
Species:	†E. beyeri
Binomial name
†Elephas beyeri von Koenigwald, 1956

Elephas beyeri is an extinct species of dwarf elephant known from the Middle Pleistocene.^[1] It was named after the anthropologist H. Otley Beyer.^[2] The type specimen, a partial molar tooth, was discovered on Cabarruyan Island in the Philippines but has since been lost.

Description

Map of the fossil site; Cabarruyan (Anda) island, Pangasinan in highlight.

The type specimen of the species is a partial molar tooth from the lower jaw that has since been lost.^[3] Elephas beyeri was a dwarf elephant with a probable estimated stature of 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in shoulder height.^[4]

Taxonomy

During its naming, von Koenigswald proposed that these dwarfed elephants were descendants of Elephas namadicus (now generally placed in Palaeoloxodon).^[4] It was thought by von Koenigswald that these animals crossed from the mainland Asia to the Philippines via land bridge connecting with Taiwan. This, however, is still debated but a research in 2021 showed an evidence of the possibility.^[5] Aside from the missing initial specimen, another confirmed discovery were unearthed in 2001 in the same locality.^[6] Further possible fossils were found in the Visayas and at a number of sites in Luzon. But it is unclear if these belonged to E. beyeri or E. namadicus due to their fragmented nature and the missing holotype. It might be even argued that the Visayan fossils were different from the elephant species harbored in Greater Luzon.^[7]

References

1. de Ocampo, Roberto SP. (1983). "Plio-Pleistocene Geology of Bolinao. Pangasinan and Vicinities" (PDF). Geological Papers. 2. National Museum of the Philippines. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-01. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
2. Philippine History. Rex Bookstore, Inc. 2004. p. 7. ISBN 9789712339349.
3. van der Geer, Alexandra; Lyras, George; de Vos, John; Dermitzakis, Michael (2010-08-13). "The Philippines". Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands (1 ed.). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781444323986. ISBN 978-1-4051-9009-1.
4. Koenigswald, G.H.R. (1956). "Fossil mammals from the Philippines". Proceedings of the Fourth Far-Eastern Prehistory Congress.
5. Antoine, Pierre-Olivier; Reyes, Marian; Amano, Noel; Bautista, Angel; Chang, Chun-Hsiang; Claude, Julien; de Vos, John; Ingicco, Thomas (2021). "A new rhinoceros clade from the Pleistocene of Asia sheds light on mammal dispersals to the Philippines". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 194 (2): 416–430. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab009.
6. Ronquillo, Wilfredo (2003). "Philippine Terrestrial Archaeology (1998-2001) and Future Trends in Philippine Archaeological Research". Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society. 31 (1/2): 98–118. JSTOR 29792517.
7. Alexandra van der Geer; George Lyras; John de Vos; Michael Dermitzakis (2011). Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands. John Wiley & Sons. p. 223. ISBN 9781444391282.