Editing Dwarf elephant (section)

==The Mediterranean islands==
{{Location map many | Mediterranean
  | relief = yes
  | default_width = 500
  | caption = Mediterranean islands with remains of dwarf proboscideans<br />[[Image:Red pog.svg|10px]] genus ''Palaeoloxodon''<br />[[Image:Blue pog.svg|10px]] genus ''Mammuthus''<br />[[Image:Red-blue pog.svg|10px]] both genera present in Crete<br />[[Image:Black pog.svg|10px]] Proboscidean remains from the Cyclades that can't be confidently assigned to a single proboscidean genus or to a dwarf species.<ref name="Athanassiou2019">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.028| title = Pleistocene insular Proboscidea of the Eastern Mediterranean: A review and update| journal = Quaternary Science Reviews| volume = 218| pages = 306–321 | year = 2019| last1 = Athanassiou | first1 = A.| last2 = Van der Geer | first2 = A. A. E.| last3 = Lyras | first3 = G. A.| bibcode = 2019QSRv..218..306A| s2cid = 199107354}}</ref>
| label1 = Sardinia
  | pos1 = left
  | mark1 = Blue pog.svg
  | lat1_deg = 40.09
  | lon1_deg = 9.05
| label2 = Favignana
  | pos2 = left
  | lat2_deg = 37.91
  | lon2_deg = 12.32
| label3 = Sicily
  | pos3 = right
  | lat3_deg = 37.60
  | lon3_deg = 14.08
| label4 = Malta
  | pos4 = bottom
  | lat4_deg = 35.89
  | lon4_deg = 14.42
| label5 = Crete
  | pos5 = bottom
  | mark5 = Red-blue pog.svg
  | lat5_deg = 35.20
  | lon5_deg = 24.83
| label6 = Kythnos
  | pos6 = none
  | mark6 = Black pog.svg
  | mark6size = 6
  | lat6_deg = 37.39
  | lon6_deg = 24.42
| label7 = Serifos
  | pos7 = none
  | mark7 = Black pog.svg
  | mark7size = 6
  | lat7_deg = 37.16
  | lon7_deg = 24.48
| label8 = Milos
  | pos8 = none
  | mark8 = Black pog.svg
  | mark8size = 6
  | lat8_deg = 36.69
  | lon8_deg = 24.45
| label9 = Delos
  | pos9 = none
  | mark9size = 6
  | lat9_deg = 37.39
  | lon9_deg = 25.27
| label10 = Paros
  | pos10 = none
  | mark10 = Black pog.svg
  | mark10size = 6
  | lat10_deg = 37.05
  | lon10_deg = 25.18
| label11 = Naxos
  | pos11 = none
  | mark11size = 6
  | lat11_deg = 37.05
  | lon11_deg = 25.47
| label12 = Astypalaia
  | pos12 = none
  | lat12_deg = 36.58
  | lon12_deg = 26.38
| label13 = Kasos
  | pos13 = right
  | lat13_deg = 35.39
  | lon13_deg = 26.92
| label14 = Tilos
  | pos14 = none
  | lat14_deg = 36.43
  | lon14_deg = 27.37
| label15 = Rhodes
  | pos15 = right
  | lat15_deg = 36.20
  | lon15_deg = 27.97
| label16 = Cyprus
  | pos16 = bottom
  | lat16_deg = 35.03
  | lon16_deg = 33.23
}}
[[File:Palaeoloxodon falconeri Size Comparison.svg|left|thumb|Size comparison of the Sicilian species ''[[Palaeoloxodon falconeri]]'', one of the smallest dwarf elephants, compared to a human]]
Dwarf elephants first inhabited the Mediterranean islands during the [[Pleistocene]], including all the major islands with the apparent exception of [[Corsica]] and the [[Balearic Islands|Balearics]]. Mediterranean dwarf elephants have generally been considered as members of the genus ''[[Palaeoloxodon]]'', derived from the continental [[straight-tusked elephant]], ''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'' ([[Hugh Falconer|Falconer]] & [[Proby Cautley|Cautley]], 1847), [[Synonym (taxonomy)|Syn.]]: ''Elephas antiquus''. An exception is the dwarf Middle-Late Pleistocene Sardinian [[mammoth]], ''[[Mammuthus lamarmorai]]'' (Major, 1883), the first endemic elephant of the Mediterranean islands recognized as belonging to the mammoth line. ''[[Mammuthus creticus]]'' from the Early Pleistocene of Crete, formerly considered a member of ''Palaeoloxodon'', is now also considered to be a mammoth, and approaches the size of the smallest dwarf elephants.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Herridge |first1=Victoria L. |last2=Lister |first2=Adrian M. |date=2012-05-09 |title=Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0671 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=279 |issue=1741 |pages=3193–3200 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0671 |pmid=22572206 |pmc=3385739 |issn=0962-8452}}</ref>

During low sea levels, the Mediterranean islands were colonised again and again, giving rise, sometimes on the same island, to several species (or subspecies) of different body sizes. The island of Sicily appears to have been colonised by proboscideans in at least two separate waves of colonisation. These endemic dwarf elephants were taxonomically different on each island or group of very close islands, like the Cyclades archipelago.

There are many uncertainties about the time of colonisation, the phylogenetic relationships and the taxonomic status of dwarf elephants on the Mediterranean islands. Extinction of the insular dwarf elephants has not been correlated with the arrival of humans to the islands, with the exception of ''[[Palaeoloxodon cypriotes]]'' on Cyprus, which survived until human colonisation of the island around 12,000 years ago.

Palaeontologist [[Othenio Abel]] proposed in 1914 that the finding of skeletons of such elephants sparked the idea that they belonged to giant one-eyed monsters, because the center nasal opening was thought to be the socket of a single eye, and thus perhaps were, for example, the origin of the one-eyed [[Cyclopes]] of [[Greek mythology]].<ref>Abel's surmise is noted by [[Adrienne Mayor]] in ''The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times'' (Princeton University Press) 2000. [See illus. ed., 2001: {{ISBN|0691089779}}]</ref> While this claim has been widely been repeated, it has been criticised for lacking evidence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Witton |first1=Mark P. |last2=Hing |first2=Richard A. |date=June 2024 |title=Did the horned dinosaur Protoceratops inspire the griffin? |journal=Interdisciplinary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=49 |issue=3–4 |pages=363–388 |doi=10.1177/03080188241255543 |issn=0308-0188|doi-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:Mammuthus lamarmorai.png|thumb|Size comparison of dwarf Sardinian mammoth ''[[Mammuthus lamarmorai]]'' compared to a human]]

===Italy and Malta===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Island !! Taxon !! Author
|-
| [[Sardinia]] || ''[[Mammuthus lamarmorai]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Major}}, 1883)
|-
| rowspan="2" style="background: lightblue" | [[Malta]] || ''[[Palaeoloxodon falconeri]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Busk}}, 1869)
|-
| ''[[Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Adams}}, 1874)
|-
| rowspan="2" style="background: lightblue" | [[Sicily]] || ''[[Palaeoloxodon falconeri]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Busk}}, 1869)
|-
| ''[[Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis|Palaeoloxodon cf. mnaidriensis]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Adams}}, 1874)
|}{{legend|lightblue|connected during [[Last Glacial Maximum|LGM]]<ref name="Palombo2020">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1080/08912963.2020.1772251| title = Was the dwarfed ''Palaeoloxodon'' from Favignana Island the last endemic Pleistocene elephant from the western Mediterranean islands?| journal = Historical Biology| pages = 1–19 | year = 2020| last1 = Palombo | first1 = M. R.| last2 = Antonioli | first2 = F.| last3 = Di Patti | first3 = C.| last4 = Presti | first4 = V. L.| last5 = Scarborough | first5 = M. E.| volume = 33| issue = 10| s2cid = 225710152}}</ref>}}
Sicily and Malta were inhabited by two successive waves of dwarf elephants derived from ''P. antiquus,'' which first arrived on the islands at least 500,000 years ago. The first of these species is ''[[Palaeoloxodon falconeri|P. falconeri]] ,'' which is one of the smallest dwarf elephant species at around {{Convert|1|m|ft}} tall, and was strongly modified from its ancestor in numerous aspects, which lived in a depauperate fauna with no other large mammal species.''<ref name=":02">Bonfiglio, L., Marra, A. C., Masini, F., Pavia, M., & Petruso, D. (2002). [https://iris.unito.it/bitstream/2318/91517/1/18%20-%20Bonfiglio%20et%20al%202002%20Sicily%20A%20Review%20BAR.pdf Pleistocene faunas of Sicily: a review]. In W. H. Waldren, & J. A. Ensenyat (Eds.), ''World islands in prehistory: international insular investigations''. British Archaeological Reports, International Series, 1095, 428–436.</ref>''<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Scarborough |first=Matthew Edward |date=March 2022 |title=Extreme Body Size Variation in Pleistocene Dwarf Elephants from the Siculo-Maltese Palaeoarchipelago: Disentangling the Causes in Time and Space |journal=Quaternary |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=17 |doi=10.3390/quat5010017 |issn=2571-550X |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=11427/36354}}</ref> Later, around 200,000 years ago, this species was replaced by a second colonisation by ''P. antiquus'', which gave rise to the larger (though still considerably dwarfed) {{Convert|2|m|ft}} tall species ''[[Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis|P. mnaidriensis]],'' which on Sicily lived alongside a number other large mammal species, including herbivores and carnivores.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Baleka |first1=Sina |last2=Herridge |first2=Victoria L. |last3=Catalano |first3=Giulio |last4=Lister |first4=Adrian M. |last5=Dickinson |first5=Marc R. |last6=Di Patti |first6=Carolina |last7=Barlow |first7=Axel |last8=Penkman |first8=Kirsty E.H. |last9=Hofreiter |first9=Michael |last10=Paijmans |first10=Johanna L.A. |date=August 2021 |title=Estimating the dwarfing rate of an extinct Sicilian elephant |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=31 |issue=16 |pages=3606–3612.e7 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.037 |pmid=34146486 |s2cid=235477150 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":122">{{Cite journal |last1=Bethune |first1=Elehna |last2=Kaiser |first2=Thomas M. |last3=Schulz-Kornas |first3=Ellen |last4=Winkler |first4=Daniela E. |date=November 2019 |title=Multiproxy dietary trait reconstruction in Pleistocene Hippopotamidae from the Mediterranean islands |url=https://zenodo.org/record/3248597 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=533 |pages=109210 |bibcode=2019PPP...533j9210B |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.05.032 |s2cid=181824675}}</ref> The youngest records of this species on Sicily date to around 20,000 years ago, close to the time of arrival of modern humans on Sicily.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Palombo |first1=Maria Rita |last2=Antonioli |first2=Fabrizio |last3=Di Patti |first3=Carolina |last4=Valeria |first4=Lo Presti |last5=Scarborough |first5=Matthew E. |date=2021-10-03 |title=Was the dwarfed Palaeoloxodon from Favignana Island the last endemic Pleistocene elephant from the western Mediterranean islands? |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2020.1772251 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=10 |pages=2116–2134 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2020.1772251 |issn=0891-2963 |s2cid=225710152|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The dwarf mammoth species ''[[Mammuthus lamarmorai]]'' descended from [[steppe mammoth]]s (''Mammuthus trogontherii'') that colonised Sardinia sometime after 450,000 years ago. It is suggested to have survived into the Last Glacial Period, until at least 60-30,000 years ago.<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last1=Palombo |first1=Maria Rita |last2=Zedda |first2=Marco |last3=Zoboli |first3=Daniel |date=March 2024 |title=The Sardinian Mammoth's Evolutionary History: Lights and Shadows |journal=Quaternary |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=10 |doi=10.3390/quat7010010 |issn=2571-550X |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Greece===
====Crete====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Island !! Taxon !! Author
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[Crete]] || ''[[Mammuthus creticus]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Bate}}, 1907)
|-
| ''[[Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Kuss}}, 1965)
|}

''[[Mammuthus creticus]]'' is known from remains probably dating to the [[Early Pleistocene]]. It likely descends from ''[[Mammuthus meridionalis]]''. It is the smallest mammoth<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Herridge |first1=V. L. |last2=Lister |first2=A. M. |year=2012 |title=Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=279 |issue=1741 |pages=3193–3300 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0671 |pmc=3385739 |pmid=22572206}}</ref> and is among the smallest dwarf elephants known, with a shoulder height of about {{Convert|1|m|ft}} and a weight of about {{Convert|180|kg|lb}}.<ref name="proboscideans" /> ''[[Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi]]'' from the Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene is significantly larger, with an estimated body mass comparable to living Asian elephant, around 40% the size of its mainland ancestor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Athanassiou |first1=Athanassios |last2=van der Geer |first2=Alexandra A.E. |last3=Lyras |first3=George A. |date=August 2019 |title=Pleistocene insular Proboscidea of the Eastern Mediterranean: A review and update |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379119300848 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=218 |pages=306–321 |bibcode=2019QSRv..218..306A |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.028 |s2cid=199107354|url-access=subscription }}</ref><!-- http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/05/04/rspb.2012.0671 -->

====Cyclades====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Island !! Taxon !! Author
|-
| style="background: lightgreen" | [[Delos]] || ''Palaeoloxodon'' sp. || {{Smallcaps|Vaufrey}}, 1929
|-
| style="background: lightgreen" | [[Naxos]] || ''[[Palaeoloxodon lomolinoi]]'' || {{Smallcaps|Van der Geer}} et al., 2014<ref name="VanderGeer2014">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.04.003| title = A dwarf elephant and a rock mouse on Naxos (Cyclades, Greece) with a revision of the palaeozoogeography of the Cycladic Islands (Greece) during the Pleistocene| journal = Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology| volume = 404| pages = 133–144 | year = 2014| last1 = Van der Geer | first1 = A. A. E.| last2 = Lyras | first2 = G. A.| last3 = Van den Hoek Ostende | first3 = L. W.| last4 = De Vos | first4 = J.| last5 = Drinia | first5 = H.| hdl = 10795/3263| url = http://repository.edulll.gr/3263| hdl-access = free}}</ref>
|-
| style="background: lightgreen" | [[Paros]] || Elephantidae indet. || {{Smallcaps|Georgalas}}, 1929
|-
| [[Kythnos]] || Elephantidae indet. || {{Smallcaps|Honea}}, 1975
|-
| [[Milos]] || Elephantidae indet. || {{Smallcaps|Papp}}, 1953
|-
| [[Serifos]] || Elephantidae indet. || {{Smallcaps|Papp}}, 1953
|}

{{legend|lightgreen|connected during LGM<ref name="VanderGeer2014"/>}}

Remains of dwarf elephants have been briefly reported from [[Paros]], [[Milos]] and [[Serifos]] in historical publications, but these lack any detailed information.<ref name=":0" />

On [[Kythnos|Kýthnos]], the remains of a dwarf elephant were reported in a 1975 publication to be found associated with lithic artefacts. The age of the find was considered to be uncertain, likely older than 9,000 years, but could not be dated precisely due to a lack of collagen. Additionally, an isolated tusk was reported from the northwest of the island.<ref name=":0" />

On [[Delos]], an indeterminate dwarf elephant known from a third molar was reported in 1908. This specimen clearly belongs to a dwarf species, but it is difficult to quantify its size precisely.<ref name=":0" /> On [[Naxos]] the species ''Palaeoloxodon lomolinoi'' has been described based on a partial skull including the maxilla bones and third molar teeth found near the Trypiti river, of probable Late Pleistocene age.''<ref name="VanderGeer2014" />'' It is estimated to be around 8% the size of ''P. antiquus'', and had a smaller body size than that represented by the dwarf elephant from Delos. The Eastern Cyclades islands of Delos, [[Naxos]], and Paros were connected during the [[Last Glacial Period]], which suggests that the Delos species and ''P. lomolinoi'' were not contemporaneous, with the former possibly being the ancestor of the latter, though nothing can be said for certain.<ref name=":0" />

====Dodecanese====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Island !! Taxon !! Author
|-
| [[Astypalaia]] || ''Palaeoloxodon'' sp. || {{Smallcaps|Athanassiou}} et al., 2019<ref name="Athanassiou2019"/>
|-
| [[Kasos]] || ''Palaeoloxodon'' [[Species affinis|aff.]] ''creutzburgi'' || {{Smallcaps|Sen}} et al., 2014<ref name=":4">{{cite journal | doi = 10.5735/086.051.0204| title = Late Pleistocene Dwarf Elephants from the Aegean Islands of Kassos and Dilos, Greece| journal = Annales Zoologici Fennici| volume = 51| pages = 27–42 | year = 2014| last1 = Sen | first1 = S.| last2 = Barrier | first2 = E.| last3 = Crété | first3 = X.| issue = 1–2| s2cid = 85190966}}</ref>
|-
| [[Rhodes]] || ''Palaeoloxodon'' sp. || {{Smallcaps|Symeonides}} et al., 1974
|-
| [[Tilos]] || ''[[Palaeoloxodon tiliensis]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Theodorou}} et al. 2007)<ref name=Theodorou2007>{{cite journal |author1=Theodorou, G.E. |author2=Symeonides, N. |author3=Stathopoulou, E. | year = 2007 | title = ''Elephas tiliensis'' n. sp. from Tilos island (Dodecanese, Greece) | journal = Hellenic Journal of Geosciences | volume = 42 | pages = 19–32}}</ref>
|}

On [[Rhodes]], bones of an unnamed endemic dwarf elephant have been discovered in cave deposits on the east coast. This elephant was similar in size to ''Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis'' (to which its remains were originally attributed), around 20% the size of its mainland ancestor (with an estimated weight of around {{Convert|1500|kg}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sen |first=Sevket |date=2017-08-01 |title=A review of the Pleistocene dwarfed elephants from the Aegean islands, and their paleogeographic context |url=http://fi.nm.cz/clanek/a-review-of-the-pleistocene-dwarfed-elephants-from-the-aegean-islands-and-their-paleogeographic-context-3/ |journal=Fossil Imprint |volume=73 |issue=1–2 |pages=76–92 |doi=10.2478/if-2017-0004 |issn=2533-4069}}</ref>). The remains, though temporally poorly constrained, are suggested to be Late Pleistocene age.<ref name=":0" /> Possible tracks produced by these dwarf elephants have been reported from the southwest of the island.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Milàn |first1=Jesper |title=A Diverse Vertebrate Ichnofauna from a Quaternary Eolian Oolite, Rhodes, Greece |date=2007 |work=Sediment–Organism InteractionsA Multifaceted Ichnology |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/1190/chapter/10726536 |access-date=2024-06-20 |publisher=SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology |language=en |doi=10.2110/pec.07.88.0333 |isbn=978-1-56576-129-2 |last2=Bromley |first2=Richard G. |last3=Titschack |first3=Jürgen |last4=Theodorou |first4=Georgios}}</ref>
[[File:Palaeoloxodon tiliensis.svg|thumb|Size of ''[[Palaeoloxodon tiliensis]]'' compared to humans]]
On [[Tilos]], the species ''[[Palaeoloxodon tiliensis]]'' has been described from remains found in Charkadio cave.<ref>G. Theodorou, N. Symeonidis, E. Stathopoulou ''Elephas tiliensis'' n. sp. from Tilos island (Dodecanese, Greece) Hell. J. Geosci., 42 (2007), pp. 19-32</ref> This species was medium-sized, around 10% the size of ''P. antiquus'', with a shoulder height of up to {{Convert|1.9|m|ft}}, with a body mass of {{Convert|630–890|kg|lb}}. Remains of the species are suggested to date to Late Pleistocene. Radiocarbon dating done in the 1970s suggested that the species survived until around 3,500 years ago, which would make the latest surviving ''Palaeoloxodon'' species and the youngest elephant in Europe, but these dates are tentative and await corroboration by other research.<ref name=":0" />

On [[Astypalaia]], a single tusk of a dwarf elephant of unknown age was excavated in the late 1990s. Due to the isolated status of the island it very likely represents an endemic species. Though the size of the animal is difficult to constrain precisely, it was probably similar in size to ''P. tiliensis''.<ref name=":0" />

On [[Kasos]], which during the Pleistocene was connected with the islands of [[Karpathos]] and [[Saria Island|Saria]], a single dwarf ''Palaeoloxodon'' molar has been found. Due to the tooth closely resembling those of the species ''P. creutzburgi'' from Crete (which is adjacent to Kasos) in size and shape, it has been referred to as ''P.'' [[Species affinis|aff.]] ''creutzburgi.''<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" />

===Cyprus===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Island !! Taxon !! Author
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[Cyprus]] || ''[[Cyprus dwarf elephant|Palaeoloxodon cypriotes]]'' || ({{Smallcaps|Bate}}, 1903)<ref name="Bate1903">Bate, D. M. A.: ''Preliminary Note on the Discovery of a Pigmy Elephant in the Pleistocene of Cyprus'' in ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'' Vol. 71 (1902 - 1903), pp. 498-500</ref>
|-
| ''[[Palaeoloxodon xylophagou]]'' || {{Smallcaps|Athanassiou}} et al., 2015<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.05.065| title = Cranial evidence for the presence of a second endemic elephant species on Cyprus| journal = Quaternary International| volume = 379| pages = 47–57 | year = 2015| last1 = Athanassiou | first1 = A.| last2 = Herridge | first2 = V.| last3 = Reese | first3 = D. S.| last4 = Iliopoulos | first4 = G.| last5 = Roussiakis | first5 = S.| last6 = Mitsopoulou | first6 = V.| last7 = Tsiolakis | first7 = E.| last8 = Theodorou | first8 = G.}}</ref>
|}

The [[Cyprus dwarf elephant]] (''Palaeoloxodon cypriotes'') survived at least until 12,000 years ago, around the time of arrival of modern humans to Cyprus (who may have hunted it), making it one of the latest surviving dwarf elephants. It is also one of the smallest dwarf elephant species, comparable in size to ''P. falconeri'', with an estimated shoulder height of {{Convert|1|m|ft}}. The species likely evolved from the earlier larger (though still strongly dwarfed) ''Palaeoloxodon xylophagou'' known from fossils dating to around 200,000 years ago.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last1=Athanassiou |first1=Athanassios |last2=Herridge |first2=Victoria |last3=Reese |first3=David S. |last4=Iliopoulos |first4=George |last5=Roussiakis |first5=Socrates |last6=Mitsopoulou |first6=Vassiliki |last7=Tsiolakis |first7=Efthymios |last8=Theodorou |first8=George |date=August 2015 |title=Cranial evidence for the presence of a second endemic elephant species on Cyprus |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618215005856 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=379 |pages=47–57 |bibcode=2015QuInt.379...47A |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.05.065|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Remains of the species were first discovered and recorded by [[Dorothea Bate]] in a cave in the [[Kyrenia]] hills of northern [[Cyprus]] in 1902 and reported in 1903.<ref name="Bate1903"/><ref>Dorothea Bate, ''Cyprus work diary 1901–02'', 3 volumes, Natural History Museum's earth sciences library, palaeontology MSS</ref>