North African elephant
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The North African Elephant (Loxodonta africana pharaohensis ) is a taxonomically controversial, extinct subspecies of the African elephant. He was spread across northern Africa and died probably from the late Roman Empire.
Taxonomy
The African elephant is usually divided into two morphologically distinct taxa, the steppe elephant ( L.africana africana) and the forest elephant ( L.africana cyclotis ), which is recognized by many editors even as a separate species. Especially in colonial times, it was customary to set up numerous other subspecies due to slight morphological differences; so are more than 18 names available for subspecies. Due to modern morphological adaptations, but above all because of DNA analysis, these subspecies are no longer justified and have been synonymized, even the specific difference between steppe and forest elephants should therefore be considered with caution.
The known by antique illustrations and subfossil bone finds elephant African Mediterranean coast and the Atlas Mountains were characterized mainly by abnormally short stature. The Ceylonese scientist Paul Deraniyagala presented on a separate subspecies for these animals. Whether these animals are more likely attributable to the forest or the desert elephants is controversial. In the standard work Mammal Species of the World pharaohensis is synonymized with africana, while most editors the North African animals are more likely to forest elephants. Whether the animals of the eastern and western North Africa were related at all closer to each other, is an open question and will perhaps no longer be enlighten by their extinction. The name pharaohensis refers to northeast African animals. Type locality is the archaeological site of Ancient Hunting support point of Ptolemais Theron on the Red Sea coast.
History
On several coins from the entire North African region as well as Carthaginian frescoes can be seen relatively little elephants. These were believed to be in North Africa north of the Sahara domestic animals, possibly from the Atlas. While in the Sahara representations of elephants have survived quite numerous of Neolithic rock carvings, their survival is up in historical time extremely unlikely.
The elephants with which Hannibal crossed the Alps during the Second Punic War were, with the exception of his own elephant named Surus ( " the Syrian " ), which is probably caused by an Indian elephant, North African elephants. The shape probably died a few decades after the Roman conquest of North Africa, according to their final victory over the Carthaginians, from. Possible reasons are, in addition to excessive hunting, the increasing dryness ( aridity ) of North Africa and the decline of forest habitats called.