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Dwarf elephant

Senckenberg Nature Museum Frankfurt

Senckenberg Nature Museum Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Pygmy elephants – with only one eye? During the Ice Age there were repeated instances of “dwarfing” among large mammals on Mediterranean islands. This fully grown adult pair and the skull of a juvenile were found in ca. 70,000-year-old sediments in a cave near Spinagallo on the island of Sicily. During the time of Ancient Greece, elephant skulls that had been unearthed were believed to represent the head of the one-eyed Cyclops. This was due to the large nasal opening at the center of the skull, which the Greeks interpreted as a single eye socket.

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  • Title: Dwarf elephant
  • Location: Spinagallo, Sicily, Italy
  • Type: cast
  • Rights: Sven Tränkner Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
  • size: 90 cm
  • scientific name: Palaeoloxodon falconeri
  • geological Age: Pleistocene
  • age: 70,000 years
Senckenberg Nature Museum Frankfurt

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