Elephas planifrons

Elephas planifrons is an extinct species of elephant, known from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of the Indian subcontinent and probably South East Asia.

Elephas planifrons

George Scharf · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ElephasPBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB, for Elephantidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Elephantidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At most 5.4 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 5.333 Mya and 11.7 ka, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Miocene — about 0 of 12 occurrencesPliocene — about 10 of 12 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 2 of 12 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 12 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.5–2.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.8 Mya0 Mya

12 occurrences of Elephas planifrons on record, most of them in the Pliocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

12 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

4 formations

Nagrota — 32.70°N, 74.85°ETatrot — 30.73°N, 76.78°EVillamagna. — 43.49°N, 10.73°EPinjor — 32.99°N, 73.67°E

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The named rock units Elephas planifrons has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Elephas planifrons and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Elephas planifrons and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

86 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 12 sites for Elephas planifrons, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

7 references

Each of the 12 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Elephas planifrons

Credit
George Scharf
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itElephas through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Falconer and Cautley 1846)