Editing Dwarf elephant (section)

{{short description|Prehistoric elephant species}}
[[Image:Elephas skeleton.JPG|right|thumb|''[[Palaeoloxodon falconeri]]'' skeleton cast]]
'''Dwarf elephants''' are prehistoric members of the order [[Proboscidea]] which, through the process of [[allopatric speciation]] on islands, evolved much smaller body sizes (around {{convert|1|-|2.3|m}} shoulder height) in comparison with their immediate ancestors. Dwarf elephants are an example of [[insular dwarfism]], the phenomenon whereby large terrestrial vertebrates (usually mammals) that colonize islands evolve dwarf forms, a phenomenon attributed to adaptation to resource-poor environments and lack of predation and competition.

[[Fossil]] remains of dwarf elephants have been found on the [[Mediterranean]] islands of [[Cyprus]], [[Malta]], [[Crete]], [[Sicily]], [[Sardinia]], the [[Cyclades|Cyclades Islands]] and the [[Dodecanese Islands]], which are mostly members of the genus ''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'', descending from the large {{Convert|4|m|ft}} tall [[straight-tusked elephant]] (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'') of mainland Europe'','' though two species represent dwarf [[mammoth]]s. Dwarf species of elephants and ''[[Stegodon]]'' have been found on the islands of Indonesia and the Philippines, with dwarfed species of ''Stegodon'' also having been found in Japan. The [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands of California]] once supported the [[pygmy mammoth]], a dwarf species descended from [[Columbian mammoth]]s,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/historyculture/pygmymammoth.htm | title = The Pygmy Mammoth (U.S. National Park Service) }}</ref> while the [[woolly mammoth]]s that existed on [[Wrangel Island]] north of [[Siberia]] were once considered dwarfs, but are not anymore.