Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi is an extinct species of elephant known from the Middle-Late Pleistocene of Crete. It is a descendant of the large mainland species Palaeoloxodon antiquus. It is known from localities across the island. P. chaniensis from Stylos and in Vamos cave, Chania, west Crete[1][3][4] is considered to be a junior synonym of P. creutzburgi. It had undergone insular dwarfism, being approximately 40% of the size of its mainland ancestor, and was around the size of the living Asian elephant.[5] It lived alongside the radiation of Candiacervus deer endemic to the island, the mouse Mus batae-minotaurus, the Cretan otter, and the Cretan shrew.[6]
| Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi Temporal range: Pleistocene
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| Drawing of molar teeth | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | Elephantidae |
| Genus: | †Palaeoloxodon |
| Species: | †P. creutzburgi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi Kuss 1965
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| Synonyms | |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Symeonides, N.K.; G.E. Theodorou; V.I. Giannopoulos (2001). "New data on Elephas chaniensis (Vamos cave, Chania, Crete)". The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001.
- ^ a b "Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi ✝". minddat.org. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ^ Palombo, M.R. (2001). "Endemic elephants of the Mediterranean Islands: knowledge, problems and perspectives". The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001.
- ^ Turvey, Samuel T., ed. (2009). Holocene extinctions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199535095.
- ^ Athanassiou, Athanassios; van der Geer, Alexandra A.E.; Lyras, George A. (August 2019). "Pleistocene insular Proboscidea of the Eastern Mediterranean: A review and update". Quaternary Science Reviews. 218: 306–321. Bibcode:2019QSRv..218..306A. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.028. S2CID 199107354.
- ^ 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 2023-04-30
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