Talk:Dwarf elephant
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[edit] Stegodon
Should this page be merged with Stegodon? Or is Stegodon just one type of dwarf elephant?
--Jarich 23:33, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)
No, because not all Stegodon are dwarf elephants. Not all are dwarfed because of isolation on islands. Pmaas 10:07, 29 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Please be more specific
The page says that the dwarf elephant "evolved to a fraction of the size of their modern ancestors". What fraction? 1/100 is a fraction. 99/100 is a fraction. 1/1 is a fraction. Even 22/3 is a fraction.
And: "Modern ancestors". Isn't that a contradiction?
Devil Master 18:02, 27 Sep 2005 (MET)
Modern ancestors is indeed a contradiction, but I see that has been changed already. About "what fraction?". It is impossible to give one number, because the different species/ subspecies on the different islands had all different sizes. Some were only a bit smaller, other extremely small compared to their mainland ancestors. Pmaas 10:12, 29 December 2005 (UTC)
- So please give examples, especially the adult size of the smallest known species. Osomec 21:30, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
- I will look into it, although not all scientific articles give exact sizes. I will read them again. Pmaas 20:28, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
- The text already says that the Sulawesi dwarf was only 1,5 m high. The one from Cyprus weight only 200 kg, which is a weight reduction of 98% from the 10-tonne ancestor. Molars are reduced to approximately 40% the linear size of mainland P. antiquus. Peter Maas 09:22, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
I think Devil_Master's point is that "a fraction" does not necessarily even have to be smaller than the original number, although I can't think of anyone ever using it in that context 129.49.105.146 18:44, 29 November 2006 (UTC)Dave
