PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Elephas maximus (Asian elephant)

Mammalia - Proboscidea - Elephantidae

Taxonomy

Elephas maximus was named by Linnaeus (1758). It is extant.

Subspecies

E. hirsutus, E. indicus, E. maximus, E. sumatranus

Sister species lacking formal opinion data

E. iolensis, E. kiangnanensis

Synonyms

Elephas asiaticus was named by Blumenbach (1797). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Elephas maximus by Allen (1936), Shoshani and Eisenberg (1982).
Elephas gigas was named by Perry (1811). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Elephas maximus by Shoshani and Eisenberg (1982).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1758	Elephas maximus Linnaeus p. 33
1797	Elephas asiaticus Blumenbach
1811	Elephas gigas Perry
1902	Elephas maximus Hay p. 712
1903	Elephas maximus Andrews p. 103
1911	Elephas maximus Thomas p. 131
1936	Elephas maximus Allen p. 16
1982	Elephas maximus Shoshani and Eisenberg p. 1
2005	Elephas maximus Wilson and Reeder
2006	Elephas maximus Rogaev et al.
2010	Elephas maximus Rohland et al. p. 2

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Afrotheria	Stanhope et al. 1998
—	Tethytheria
order	Proboscidea	()
suborder	Elephantiformes	Tassy 1988
superfamily	Elephantoidea
family	Elephantidae
subfamily	Elephantinae	Gray 1821
tribe	Elephantini	Gray 1821
genus	Elephas
species	maximus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Elephas maximus Linnaeus 1758 [Asian elephant]

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Elephas maximus indicus Cuvier 1798

Elephas maximus maximus Linnaeus 1758 [Sri Lankan elephant]

Elephas maximus sumatranus Temminck 1847 [Sumatran elephant]

Invalid names: Elephas asiaticus Blumenbach 1797 [synonym], Elephas gigas Perry 1811 [synonym]

Elephas maximus hirsutus Lydekker 1914 [Malaysian elephant]

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Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available