Accepted taxon: Elephas maximus
Accepted taxon: Elephas maximus
| Taxon: |
Elephas maximus |
| Rank: |
Species |
| Higher Classification: |
PROBOSCIDEA | Elephantidae | Elephas |
| Reference: |
Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), JHU Press, 2005. |
Fig.1 - Ternary plot of the proximate analysis for the Elephas maximus diet.
CF (Crude Fibre) 20, ASH (Ash contents) 7, NFE (Nitrogen-Free-Extract) 36, CP (Crude Protein) 8, EE (Ether Extract) 2.
See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets.
Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15.
[DOI]
Table 1. List of Diet Items for Elephas maximus.
| TSN Complete name |
Part |
Ratio a. |
Reference(s) |
| Magnoliopsida |
SHOOT |
29.63 |
Grzimek,B… |
| Poaceae |
STEM |
25.93 |
Grzimek,B… |
| Magnoliopsida |
BARK |
6.48 |
Nowak,R. … |
| Arecaceae |
SHOOT |
6.48 |
Smith,A. … |
| Magnoliopsida |
ROOT |
5.56 |
Nowak,R. … |
| Magnoliopsida |
LEAF |
4.63 |
Nowak,R. … |
| Oryza sativa |
SEED |
4.63 |
Smith,A. … |
| Saccharum officinarum |
STEM |
4.63 |
Nowak,R. … |
| Magnoliopsida |
STEM |
3.70 |
Nowak,R. … |
| Musa |
FRUIT |
2.78 |
Smith,A. … |
| Musa acuminata |
FRUIT |
2.78 |
Nowak,R. … |
| Carica papaya |
FRUIT |
1.85 |
Smith,A. … |
| 0 |
MINERAL |
0.93 |
Smith,A. … |
a. Standardized values.
See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets.
Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15.
[DOI]
Table 2. List of Standard Traits for Elephas maximus.
| Trait |
Selected Value |
All Value(s) |
Reference(s) |
|
Dietary category: Eisenberg 1981
|
Herbivore-Mixed feeder
|
Frugivore-Herbivore, Herbivore-Mixed feeder
|
– A. Mysterud, 2000, 'The relationship between ecological segregation and sexual body size dimorphism in large herbivores', Oecologia, vol. 124, no. 1, pp. 40-54, Sukumar,R., 1995, Elephant foraging: Is browse or grass more important, A week with elephants
|
|
Dietary category: Miljutin 2009
|
Herbivore
|
Frugivore, Herbivore
|
– A. Mysterud, 2000, 'The relationship between ecological segregation and sexual body size dimorphism in large herbivores', Oecologia, vol. 124, no. 1, pp. 40-54, Sukumar,R., 1995, Elephant foraging: Is browse or grass more important, A week with elephants
|
Table 3. List of Standard Measurements for Elephas maximus.
| Measurement |
Location |
Unit |
n Total |
n Unknown |
n Female |
n Male |
Min |
Mean |
Max |
SD |
Reference(s) |
| Body Mass (BM) |
nan |
g |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
3,160,000 |
- |
- |
Lundgren,… |
| Body Mass (BM) |
nan |
g |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1,810,000 |
- |
5,400,000 |
- |
Freudenth… |
Table 4. List of other Measurements b. for Elephas maximus.
| Measurement |
Location |
Unit |
n Total |
n Unknown |
n Female |
n Male |
Min |
Mean |
Max |
SD |
Reference(s) |
| femur circumference |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
286 |
- |
- |
Nelson, A… |
| femur diameter |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
97 |
- |
- |
Nelson, A… |
| humerus circumference |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
282 |
- |
- |
Nelson, A… |
| neck length |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
371 |
- |
- |
Nelson, A… |
b. other Measurements.
Source Measurements which are not listed on or mapped with the Standard Traits..
Table 5. List of Data Sources for Elephas maximus.
| Taxon |
Reference |
Match |
Status |
| Elephas maximus |
Mysterud,Atle, 2000, The Relationship between Ecological Segregation and Sexual Body Size Dimorphism in Large Herbivores, Oecologia |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Sukumar,R., 1995, Elephant foraging: Is browse or grass more important, A week with elephants |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Nowak,R. M., 1991, Walker's mammals of the world, |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Grzimek,B., 2003, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Mammals I-V, |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Smith,A. T., 2010, A guide to the mammals of China, |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Nowak,R. M., 1991, Walker's mammals of the world, |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Lundgren, E.J., Schowanek, S.D., Rowan, J., Middleton, O., Pedersen, R.Ø., Wallach, A.D., Ramp, D., Davis, M., Sandom, C.J. and Svenning, J.C., 2021. Functional traits of the world’s late Quaternary large-bodied avian and mammalian herbivores. Scientific data, 8(1), p.17. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Nelson, A., Engelman, R.K. and Croft, D.A., 2023. How to weigh a fossil mammal? South American notoungulates as a case study for estimating body mass in extinct clades. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 30(3), pp.773-809. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Freudenthal, M. and Martín-Suárez, E., 2013. Estimating body mass of fossil rodents. Scripta Geologica, 145, pp.1-513. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Beaudrot, L., Acevedo, M.A., Gorczynski, D. and Harris, N.C., 2024. Geographic differences in body size distributions underlie food web connectance of tropical forest mammals. Scientific Reports, 14(1), pp.1-10. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Elephas maximus |
Rowan, J., Beaudrot, L., Franklin, J., Reed, K.E., Smail, I.E., Zamora, A. and Kamilar, J.M., 2020. Geographically divergent evolutionary and ecological legacies shape mammal biodiversity in the global tropics and subtropics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(3), pp.1559-1565. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
Citation for this page:
[The MammalBase community 2026. / CC BY 4.0. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7462864
Elephas maximus
, Accessed 15th April 2026 at https://mammalbase.net/me/5378]