Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach 1797)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Proboscidea, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 90-91 : 91

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).