The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is a forest-dwelling elephant of the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three extant species of elephant, but is also the third-largest living terrestrial animal. Formerly considered either a synonym or a subspecies of the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), a 2010 study established the two are distinct species.
The disputed pygmy elephants of the Congo Basin, often assumed to be a separate species (Loxodonta pumilio) by cryptozoologists, are probably forest elephants whose diminutive size and/or early maturity is due to environmental conditions. Adult "pygmy elephants" have reportedly weighed as little as 900 kg (1,980 lb). African forest elephants were famously the species used by Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, as war elephants in his crossing of the Alps during the Punic Wars against the Romans.
Read more about African Forest Elephant: Description, Diet, Conservation
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