Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach 1797)

[Elephas] africana Blumenbach 1797, Handb. Naturgesch., 5th ed.: 125.

Type Locality: Restricted to the Orange River, South Africa by Pohle (1926; see Allen, 1939).

Vernacular Names: African Bush Elephant.

Synonyms: Loxodonta angolensis Frade 1928; Loxodonta berbericus Seurat 1930; Loxodonta capensis (G. Cuvier 1798); Loxodonta cavendishi (Lydekker 1907); Loxodonta cornaliae (Aradas 1870); Loxodonta hannibali (Deraniyagala 1953); Loxodonta knochenhaueri (Matschie 1900); Loxodonta mocambicus (Frade 1924); Loxodonta orleansi (Lydekker 1907); Loxodonta oxyotis Matschie 1900; Loxodonta peeli (Lydekker 1907); Loxodonta pharaohensis Deraniyagala 1948; Loxodonta rothschildi (Lydekker 1907); Loxodonta selousi (Lydekker 1907); Loxodonta toxotis (Lydekker 1907); Loxodonta typicus Blumenbach 1797; Loxodonta zukowskyi Strand 1924 .

Distribution: Sub-Saharan, except C and W coast of Africa, including 30 countries from Senegal in the west to Somalia in the east.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix II for Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, Appendix I for other African countries; U.S. ESA – Threatened; IUCN – Endangered.

Discussion: See Laursen and Bekoff (1978, Mammalian Species, 92) and Deraniyagala (1955). The name cornaliae (Aradas, 1870) is based on a Loxodonta molar from Catania, Sicily, and inferentially was a Carthaginian import (C. Groves, pers comm., 2002). The North African names ( berbericus, hannibali, pharaohensis) were placed in this synonymy instead of under L. cyclotis per suggestion of Colin Groves (pers. comm., 2002).