Palaeoloxodon naumanni

'' from the Indian subcontinent (top), showing differences in the shape of the skull including the parietal-occipital crest (labeled POC) Palaeoloxodon naumanni, like other members of the genus Palaeoloxodon had a growth of bone, dubbed the parietal-occipital crest (POC) on the top of the skull to anchor the splenius and possibly other muscles to support the head. In comparison to many Eurasian species of Palaeoloxodon, the POC was only weakly developed (though more pronounced in males than in females) and does not come near the nasal opening, comparable to the condition in the African ''Palaeoloxodon recki. The species like other elephants was sexually dimorphic, with P. naumanni having a reconstructed shoulder height of , for males and around for females. This is relatively small in comparison to other (non-dwarf) Palaeoloxodon species. The shoulders represent the highest position of the back. The limb bones are generally robust, and the deltoid muscle ridge on the humerus is well developed. The tusks were upward curving and somewhat twisted in males, but were relatively straight and untwisted in females, and reached a maximum length of about and a maximum diameter of . ==Discovery and nomenclature==

In 1860, the first fossil was found at Yokosuka and the bottom of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. German geologist Heinrich Edmund Naumann researched and reported these fossils in “Ueber japanische Elephanten der Vorzeit” (1882). Naumann classified the fossil as belonging to the species Elephas namadicus (now Palaeoloxodon namadicus), which has been originally named for remains found in the Indian subcontinent. In 1924, researched fossils found in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and, in his “Notes on a Fossil Elephant from Sahamma, Totomi”, reported that the elephant was a previously unidentified subspecies, and designated the fossil Elephas namadicus naumannni. Tadao Kamei identified Elephas namadicus naumanni as a new species, called Palaeoloxodon naumanni, from fossils found at Lake Nojiri. Recent authors have suggested that Chinese Palaeoloxodon remains may be attributable to the largely European straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus). == Distribution and ecology ==

'' in the background left. Artwork by Kohei Futaka P. naumanni belongs to an-early diverging mitochondrial DNA clade within Palaeoloxodon, suggesting it diverged early from other Eurasian Palaeoloxodon species. The oldest known date for the species is around 330,000 years ago, P. naumanni is known from hundreds of localities across the Japanese archipelago, ranging from southern Kyushu, northwards to northern Honshu and to Hokkaido It is suggested that it preferred temperate forested habitats, including deciduous broad-leaved trees and conifers, Recovered remains suggests that the species inhabited a wide range of altitudes, from below current sea level to over . Palaeoloxodon naumanni lived alongside other megafauna species, including the extinct giant deer Sinomegaceros yabei, sika deer, Japanese serow, moose, musk deer, the extinct steppe bison, brown bears, black bears, wolves, == Relationship with humans ==

Humans are thought to have arrived in the Japanese archipelago around 40,000 years ago. Bones of P. naumanni alongside those of the extinct giant deer Sinomegaceros yabei at Lake Nojiri in Nagano Prefecture dating to approximately 37,900 years Before Present, have been found together with many lithic and bone tool artifacts, suggesting that the elephants were butchered by humans at the site. == Extinction ==

The most recent reliable dates for the species are around 24,000 years Before Present, during the early stages of the Last Glacial Maximum. Any more recent dates are considered unreliable. Some authors have suggested that its extinction was due to climatic change resulting in loss of habitat and population fragmentation, while others suggest humans may have been a contributing factor in the extinction. A 2025 paper suggested that ecological inflexibility was not a factor that contributed to the extinction of P. naumanni. ==See also==