Rediscovering Mammoths in Taiwan: The Type Specimens of Mammuthus armeniacus taiwanicus (Proboscidea, Elephantidae)
Journal
Mammal Study
Journal Volume
50
Journal Issue
3
Start Page
329
End Page
336
ISSN
1343-4152
Date Issued
2025-04-23
Author(s)
Abstract
The recognition of a proboscidean subspecies, Mammuthus armeniacus taiwanicus, from the Pleistocene represents one of the milestones for paleontological research in Taiwan in the 1970s. However, the whereabouts of the holotype and referred specimens remain unknown due to curation issues. Here, we report the rediscovery of the holotype and five referred specimens in the Tainan City Zuojhen Fossil Park collection and National Taiwan University, out of 16 original specimens in the private and museum collections, after our intense search for historical fossil materials. Given the size difference between the holotype (smaller) from Taiwan and other Eurasian mammoths, this Taiwan mammoth may represent an island dwarf rather than only a subspecies of steppe mammoths as originally identified in 1975. Our rediscovery of original materials of mammoths from the Pleistocene of Taiwan promises to further test this taxonomic and evolutionary hypothesis in the eastern margin of Eurasia, and to elucidate the Pleistocene extinctions and faunal turnover leading to the modern biodiversity.
Subjects
island evolution
megafauna extinction
Pleistocene
steppe mammoth
type materials
Publisher
Mammalogical Society of Japan
Type
journal article