During the Late Pleistocene, c. 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, an extinct species of dwarf elephant inhabited the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea.
Named
Palaeoloxodon cypriotes, these dwarf elephants are believed to descend from
Palaeoloxodon xylophagou, which was about 3.5 times larger than
P. cypriotes.
Both of these species, are
believed to descend from the large
Palaeoloxodon antiquus (straight-tusked elephant) of mainland Europe and Western Asia, which probably swam to the island long ago from mainland Europe.
The most recent remains of
P. cypriotes, date to around 12,000 years ago.
Palaeoloxodon cypriotes was
around 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall and is an example of insular dwarfism, where due to the ecological conditions on islands, such as limited food sources over generations, animals develop a reduced body size.
The
P. cypriotes probably weighed about 200 kilograms, a weight reduction of 98% from its ancestors, which weighed about 10 tonnes.
The island of Cyprus also has the remains of a dwarf hippopotamus, which
lived there from the Pleistocene until the early Holocene (about 10,000 years ago).
Mitochondrial DNA (maternal line) points to its closest living relative, being the common hippopotamus (
Hippopotamus amphibius).
At Aetokremmos (which translates to "Cliff of the Eagles") near present day Limassol, excavations have un-earthed bones and artifacts dating 13,000 years back. This makes it the oldest known organised settlement in Cyprus.
Evidence of the diets of the inhabitants are pygmy hippos, dwarf elephants, fish, bustards, fallow deer and pig.
Dwarf elephants
inhabited many Mediterranean islands during the Pleistocene.
Pygmy hippos were also found in other Mediterranean areas, such as Crete, Malta and Sicily.
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| Paleoloxodon cypriotes was comparable in size to Palaeoloxodon falconeri from Sicily (depicted) SlvrHwk |
