Mammuthus creticus

Mammuthus creticus, or the Cretan dwarf mammoth, is an extinct species of dwarf mammoth endemic to Crete sometime during the Early Pleistocene to early Middle Pleistocene. It is known from fragmentary remains found in caves on the north coast of the island. It is the smallest known dwarf mammoth and among smallest known dwarf elephantids, with an estimated shoulder height of around 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) in adults. It was probably descended from the large mammoth Mammuthus meridionalis native to mainland Europe during the Early Pleistocene.

Mammuthus creticus Temporal range: Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Lithograph of jaw and molar teeth
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Family:	Elephantidae
Genus:	†Mammuthus
Species:	†M. creticus
Binomial name
†Mammuthus creticus (Bate, 1907)
Synonyms
Elephas creticus Bate, 1907

Discoveries

The type locality is Cape Malekas on the Akrotiri peninsula northeast of Chania, which probably dates to the Early Pleistocene or early Middle Pleistocene.^[1][2] Other possible remains have been reported from Koutalas Cave to the west.^[3]

Description

Mammuthus creticus was around the same size as the Sicilian dwarf elephant Palaeoloxodon falconeri (depicted)

Mammuthus creticus is only known from fragmentary remains, including molar teeth, an incisor, a humerus, rib fragments, and a partial vertebra.^[2][4] With an estimated shoulder height of about 1 metre (3.3 ft)^[5] and with a weight estimated at 310 kilograms (680 lb)^[2] or 180 kilograms (400 lb),^[5] it was the smallest mammoth that ever existed, and among the smallest elephantids along with the comparably sized dwarf elephants Palaeoloxodon falconeri of Sicily and Malta and Palaeoloxodon cypriotes of Cyprus.^[2] Its size reduction was the result of insular dwarfism, where the body size of large mammals on islands reduces as the result of decreased food availability, predation and competition.^[2]

Taxonomy

The species was originally described as Elephas creticus by Dorothea Bate in 1907, who noted its similarity to Elephas meridionalis (now Mammuthus meridionalis).^[2] After DNA research published in 2006, it was proposed to rename Elephas creticus into Mammuthus creticus (Bate, 1907).^[6] Others proposed (in 2002)^[7] to rename all the described specimens of larger size under the new subspecies name Elephas antiquus creutzburgi (Kuss, 1965). A 2007 study criticised the results of the 2006 DNA study, showing that the DNA research was likely flawed.^[8] However, morphological data supports a placement in Mammuthus.^[2][1] It probably derived from Mammuthus meridionalis, or less likely, Mammuthus rumanus.^[2]

Ecology

Mammuthus creticus was one of only three mammal species native to Crete during the Early Pleistocene and the early Middle Pleistocene, alongside the dwarf hippopotamus Hippopotamus creutzburgi and the giant rat Kritimys.^[1]

See also

• Dwarf elephant
• Mammuthus lamarmorai a dwarf mammoth species known from the Middle-Late Pleistocene of Sardinia
• Mammuthus exilis a dwarf mammoth native to the Channel Islands off the coast of California during the Late Pleistocene