Mammuthus meridionalis

Mammuthus meridionalis, or the southern mammoth, is an extinct species of mammoth native to Europe and Central Asia during the Early Pleistocene, living from 2.5–0.8 mya.[1]

Mammuthus meridionalis
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene
Mounted skeleton, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephantidae
Genus: †Mammuthus
Species:
†M. meridionalis
Binomial name
†Mammuthus meridionalis
(Nesti, 1825)
Synonyms
  • Archidiskodon meridionalis
  • Mammuthus gromovi (Alexeeva & Garutt, 1965)
  • Mammuthus meridionalis vestinus
  • M. m. voigtstedtensis (Dietrich, 1965)

Taxonomy
Molar

The taxonomy of extinct elephants was complicated by the early 20th century, and in 1942, Henry Fairfield Osborn's posthumous monograph on the Proboscidea was published, wherein he used various taxon names that had previously been proposed for mammoth species, including replacing Mammuthus with Mammonteus, as he believed the former name to be invalidly published.[2] Mammoth taxonomy was simplified by various researchers from the 1970s onwards, all species were retained in the genus Mammuthus, and many proposed differences between species were instead interpreted as intraspecific variation.[3] The name Archidiskodon meridionalis is retained by some Russian researchers.[4][5]

Evolution

The earliest known members of Proboscidea, the clade which contains modern elephants, existed about 55 million years ago around the Tethys Sea. The closest known relatives of the Proboscidea are the sirenians (dugongs and manatees) and the hyraxes (an order of small, herbivorous mammals). The family Elephantidae existed six million years ago in Africa and includes the modern elephants and the mammoths. Among many now extinct clades, the mastodon (Mammut) is only a distant relative of the mammoths, and part of the separate family Mammutidae, which diverged 25 million years before the mammoths evolved.[6] The following cladogram shows the placement of the genus Mammuthus among other proboscideans, based on characteristics of the hyoid bone in the neck:[7]

Elephantimorpha

†Mammutidae (Mastodons)

Elephantida

†Gomphotheriidae (Gomphotheres)

Elephantoidea

†Stegodontidae (Stegodontids)

Elephantidae

Loxodonta (African elephants)

Elephantini

†Palaeoloxodon

Elephantina

Elephas (Asian elephants)

†Mammuthus (Mammoths)

Since many remains of each species of mammoth are known from several localities, it is possible to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the genus through morphological studies. Mammoth species can be identified from the number of enamel ridges (or lamellar plates) on their molars: primitive species had few ridges, and the number increased gradually as new species evolved to feed on more abrasive food items. The crowns of the teeth became deeper in height and the skulls became taller to accommodate this. At the same time, the skulls became shorter from front to back to minimise the weight of the head.[8][9]

The first known members of the genus Mammuthus are the African species M. subplanifrons from the Pliocene, and M. africanavus from the Pleistocene. The former is thought to be the ancestor of later forms. Mammoths entered Europe around 3 million years ago. The earliest European mammoth has been named M. rumanus; it spread across Europe and China. Only its molars are known, which show that it had 8–10 enamel ridges. A population evolved 12–14 ridges, splitting off from and replacing the earlier type, becoming M. meridionalis about 2–1.7 million years ago. In turn, a population of M. meridionalis evolved into the steppe mammoth (M. trogontherii) with 18–20 ridges, in eastern Asia around 2–1.5 million years ago.[8] The Columbian mammoth (M. columbi) evolved from a population of M. trogontherii that had crossed the Bering Strait and entered North America about 1.5 million years ago, and not M. meridionalis as had been suggested earlier.[10] This was confirmed by a 2016 a genetic study of North American mammoth specimens.[11] Steppe mammoths replaced southern mammoths in Europe in a diachronous mosaic pattern between 1 and 0.8-0.7 million years ago.[8]

Description
Skeletal restoration
Complete skeleton in the Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Italy

With a shoulder height of about 3.97 m (13.0 ft) and an estimated weight of 10.7 tonnes (11.8 short tons), M. meridionalis is one of the largest proboscideans to have ever lived, along with other larger species of mammoth, and the earlier Deinotherium.[12] Cranium fossils of the M. meridionalis found in Italy show the length of the skull to be 1.25 - 1.54 meters long, with tusk lengths of 72 - 85 centimetres.[13] It had robust twisted tusks, common of mammoths. Its molars had low crowns and a small number of thick enamel ridges, adapted to a woodland diet of leaves and shrubs; this indicates it lived on a relatively warm climate, which makes it more probable that it lacked dense fur.[14]

Diet

Dental microwear of the teeth of M. meridionalis suggest that the species was a variable mixed feeder, that consumed both grass and browse, with its diet varying according to local conditions, with some populations exhibiting browse-dominated mixed feeding, while others grass-dominant.[15]

Distribution and habitat
Mammuthus meridionalis reconstruction

Fossilized plants found with the remains show that M. meridionalis was living in a time of mild climate, generally as warm or slightly warmer than Europe experiences today. Deciduous mixed wood provided its habitat and food, which consisted mostly of tree-browse: oak, ash, beech and other familiar European trees, as well as some that are now exotic to the region, such as hemlock, wing nut and hickory. Complete skeletons are in Stavropol State Museum in Russia,in L'Aquila National Museum and in Firenze at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze in Italy. Further east, discoveries at Ubeidiya (Israel) and Dmanisi (Georgia) show the early mammoth living in a partially open habitat with grassy areas.[14]

References
  1. PaleoBiology Database: Mammuthus meridionalis, basic info
  2. Osborn, H. F. (1942). Percy, M. R. (ed.). Proboscidea: A monograph of the discovery, evolution, migration and extinction of the mastodonts and elephants of the world. Vol. 2. New York: J. Pierpont Morgan Fund. pp. 1116–1169.
  3. Maglio, V. J. (1973). "Origin and evolution of the Elephantidae". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 63 (3): 1–149. doi:10.2307/1379357. JSTOR 1379357.
  4. Shchelinsky, V.E. (April 2020). "Large mammal hunting and use of aquatic food resources in the Early Palaeolithic (finds from Early Acheulean sites in the southern Azov Sea region)". Quaternary International. 541: 182–188. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.04.008.
  5. Baigusheva, Vera S.; Titov, Vadim V.; Foronova, Irina V. (October 2016). "Teeth of early generations of Early Pleistocene elephants (Mammalia, Elephantidae) from Sinyaya Balka/Bogatyri site (Sea of Azov Region, Russia)". Quaternary International. 420: 306–318. Bibcode:2016QuInt.420..306B. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.007. ISSN 1040-6182.
  6. Lister, 2007. pp. 18–21
  7. Shoshani, J.; Ferretti, M. P.; Lister, A. M.; Agenbroad, L. D.; Saegusa, H.; Mol, D.; Takahashi, K. (2007). "Relationships within the Elephantinae using hyoid characters". Quaternary International. 169–170: 174–185. Bibcode:2007QuInt.169..174S. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2007.02.003.
  8. Lister, A. M.; Sher, A. V.; Van Essen, H.; Wei, G. (2005). "The pattern and process of mammoth evolution in Eurasia". Quaternary International. 126–128: 49–64. Bibcode:2005QuInt.126...49L. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2004.04.014.
  9. Ferretti, M. P. (2003). "Structure and evolution of mammoth molar enamel". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 3. 48: 383–396.
  10. Lister, A. M.; Sher, A. V. (2015-11-13). "Evolution and dispersal of mammoths across the Northern Hemisphere". Science. 350 (6262): 805–809. Bibcode:2015Sci...350..805L. doi:10.1126/science.aac5660. PMID 26564853.
  11. Enk, J.; Devault, A.; Widga, C.; Saunders, J.; Szpak, P.; Southon, J.; Rouillard, J. M.; Shapiro, B.; Golding, G. B.; Zazula, G.; Froese, D.; Fisher, D. C.; MacPhee, R. D. E.; Poinar, H. (2016). "Mammuthus population dynamics in Late Pleistocene North America: divergence, phylogeography, and introgression". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 4. doi:10.3389/fevo.2016.00042.
  12. Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014.
  13. Ferretti, Marco P. (1999). "Mammuthus meridionalis (Mammalia, Proboscidea, Elephantidae) from the 'Sabbie Gialle' of Oriolo (Cava La Salita, Faenza, Northern Italy) and other European late populations of southern mammoth". Eclogae Geologicae Helvetia. 92 (3): 503–515.
  14. Lister, Adrian; Bahn, Paul (2007). Mammoths: giants of the ice age. Frances Lincoln LTD. pp. 25–26. ISBN 9780711228016.
  15. Rivals, Florent; Semprebon, Gina M.; Lister, Adrian M. (September 2019). "Feeding traits and dietary variation in Pleistocene proboscideans: A tooth microwear review". Quaternary Science Reviews. 219: 145–153. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.027.

Bibliography

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