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''Palaeoloxodon namadicus'' or the Asian straight-tusked elephant, was a species of prehistoric elephant that ranged throughout Pleistocene Asia, from India (where it was first discovered) to Japan, where the indigenous Neolithic cultures hunted that particular subspecies for food. It is a descendant of the straight-tusked elephant. Some authorities regard it to be a subspecies of ''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'', the straight-tusked elephant, due to extreme similarities of the tusks. ==Size== Several studies have attempted to estimate the size of the Asian straight-tusked elephants, as well as other prehistoric proboscideans, usually using comparisons of thigh bone length and knowledge of relative growth rates to estimate the size of incomplete skeletons. One partial skeleton found in India in 1905 had thigh bones that likely measured when complete, suggesting a total shoulder height of and weight of for this individual elephant. Two partial thigh bones were found in the 19th century and would have measured 155 cm (5.1 ft) when complete. A fragment from the same locality was said to be almost a quarter larger; volumetric analysis then yields a size estimate of tall at the shoulders and possibly . This would make ''P. namadicus'' the largest land mammal of all time, surpassing the largest indricotheres. (units:tonnes = 1000 kilograms, long ton= 2,240 pounds, short ton=2000 pounds) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Palaeoloxodon namadicus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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