Loxodonta cyclotis Matschie 1900

Loxodonta cyclotis Matschie 1900, Sitzb. Ges. Naturf. Fr. Berlin: 194.

Type Locality: Yaunde, S Cameroon.

Vernacular Names: African Forest Elephant.

Synonyms: Loxodonta albertensis (Lydekker 1907); Loxodonta cottoni (Lydekker 1908); Loxodonta fransseni (Schouteden 1914); Loxodonta pumilio (Noack 1906) .

Distribution: C and W coast of Africa, including 21 countries from Senegal in the west to Uganda in the east.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I (as included in L. africana); U.S. ESA – Threatened (as included in L. africana); IUCN – Endangered (as included in L. africana).

Discussion: See Laursen and Bekoff (1978, Mammalian Species, 92), where cyclotis was treated as a subspecies of L. africana . Grubb et al. (2000) presented morphological and some molecular data in support of upgrading cyclotis to a species category, separate species from africana, corroborating earlier hypothesis that Loxodonta cyclotis and L. africana are distinct species. Further, Grubb et al. (2000) supported the hypothesis that L. cyclotis is morphologically more primitive than L. africana . Roca et al. (2001) provided genetic evidence for two species in Africa. Evidence provided by Debruyne (2003), however, suggests that the African Forest Elephant and the African Bush Elephant are only subspecifically distinct – this taxonomic question has not yet been resolved.