Dwarf Elephant

Dwarf Elephant

Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea, that through the process of allopatric speciation on islands evolved much smaller body sizes in comparison with their immediate ancestors. Dwarf elephants are an example of Insular dwarfism, the phenomenon whereby large terrestrial vertebrates (usually mammals) which colonize islands evolve dwarf forms, a phenomenon attributed to adaptation to resource-poor environments and selection for early maturation and reproduction. Some modern populations of Asian elephants have also undergone size reduction on islands to a lesser degree, resulting in populations of pygmy elephants.

Fossil remains of dwarf elephants have been found on the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Malta (at Ghar Dalam), Crete, Sicily, Sardinia, the Cyclades Islands and the Dodecanese Islands. Other islands where dwarf stegodon have been found are Sulawesi, Flores, Timor and other islands of the Lesser Sundas. The Channel Islands of California once supported a dwarf species descended from Columbian mammoths, while small races of woolly mammoths were once found on Saint Paul Island; the mammoths on Wrangel island are no longer considered dwarfs.