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EleFacts Elephant Evolution & Biological Classification |
| Kingdom | Animalia (animals) | |
| Phylum | Chordata (spinal cords) | |
| Subphylum | Verterbrata (spine & verterbrae) | |
| Class | Mammalia (mammals - breast feeders) | |
| Order | Proboscidea (includes all living elephant species and numerous extinct families: mammutidae, moeritheridae, barytheridae, deinotheridae, etc.) | |
|
Family (ancestral) |
Paleomastodontidae (most branches extinct) | |
|
Family (ancestral) |
Gomphotheridae (most branches extinct) | |
|
Family (modern) |
Elephantidae (living animals) | |
|
Genus (ancestral) |
Primelephas (includes Woolly Mammoth, extinct 10,000 years) | |
|
Genus (modern) |
Loxodonta (African elephants) |
Elephas (Asian elephants) |
|
Genus & Species |
Loxodonta africana |
Elephas maximus |
|
Subspecies |
Loxodonta africana africana (African savana elephants) Loxodonta africana cyclotis (African forest elephants) |
Elephas maximus maximus (elephants of Sri Lanka) Elephas maximus indicus (elephants of India) Elephas maximus sumatranus (elephants of Sumatra) |
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