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Loxodonta africana Blumenbach, 1797

Order: Proboscidea > Family: Elephantidae > Genus: Loxodonta > Species: Loxodonta africana Blumenbach, 1797

Type Description

Handb. Naturgesch., 5th ed., p. 125

Type Locality

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

Measurements

Tail length: 1000-1500 mm
Weight: 2400-6300 kg

Description

This familiar animal is recognized by the trunk and tusks (which are actually upper incisors).

Distribution

Found in all vegetation types, Loxodonta africana has a fragmented distribution with isolated areas from Senegal to Ethiopia and Somalia down to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique with two isolated patches in the southern Cape in South Africa. (Kingdon, 1997)

Key References

1. Kingdon, J. 1989. East African mammals: An atlas of evolution in Africa. (Large Mammals). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 3B:30-75.
2. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals, AP Natural World Academic Press, Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego, p. 305.
3. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2:993-994, 998-1004.