Elephas ekorensis is an extinct species of elephant. Fossils have been found in East Africa dating as far back as the Early Pliocene age, between 5 and 4.2 million years ago.[1] It is the earliest species placed in the genus Elephas.[2][3][4] It has been suggested to have been a grazer or mixed feeder (both browsing and grazing).[5] Its placement in the genus of Elephas has been questioned, as the teeth are similar to those of the contemporaneous Loxodonta adaurora. A number of specimens assigned to it likely actually belong to other species.[5]
^Sanders, William J.; Haile-Selassie, Yohannes (June 2012). "A New Assemblage of Mid-Pliocene Proboscideans from the Woranso-Mille Area, Afar Region, Ethiopia: Taxonomic, Evolutionary, and Paleoecological Considerations". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 19 (2): 105–128. doi:10.1007/s10914-011-9181-y. ISSN 1064-7554.
^Sukumar, Raman (2003). The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behaviour, and Conservation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190283087.
^Genoways, H.H. (2013). Current Mammalogy, Volume 1. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 131. ISBN 9781475799095.
^Sanders, William & Haile-Selassie, Yohannes. (2011). A New Assemblage of Mid-Pliocene Proboscideans from the Woranso-Mille Area, Afar Region, Ethiopia: Taxonomic, Evolutionary, and Paleoecological Considerations. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 19. 10.1007/s10914-011-9181-y.
^ abSanders, William J. (March 2020). "Proboscidea from Kanapoi, Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution. 140: 102547. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.10.013.
Elephasekorensis is an extinct species of elephant. Fossils have been found in East Africa dating as far back as the Early Pliocene age, between 5 and...
Elephas is one of two surviving genera in the family of elephants, Elephantidae, with one surviving species, the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus. Several...
before expanding into the southern half of Asia. The earliest Elephas species, Elephasekorensis, is known from the Early Pliocene of East Africa, around 5-4...