The Evolution of Living Elephants (Every Species and Subspecies Explained)

Modern elephants are the last living members of an incredible evolutionary story that spans millions of years. In this video, we explore how today’s elephants evolved, uncovering the major differences between African elephants (Loxodonta) and Asian elephants (Elephas), including their physical traits, habitats, behavior, and genetics. We break down every living species and subspecies, from the African bush and forest elephants to the Asian elephant’s regional variations, while also looking at their ancient relatives and what fossil discoveries reveal about their origins. Twitter/X : https://x.com/animalorigins (2:30) - African Elephants (11:10) - Asian Elephants Quick Note: For some reason it didn't appear in the video, but the art of Stegotetrabelodon at 1:01 was made by amberhiiniii over at Instagram.   / amberghiiniii   Sources: A comprehensive genomic history of extinct and living elephants (Palkopoulou Study) - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... A genetic glimpse of the Chinese straight-tusked elephants (Lin Study) - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/do... Overview of Primelephas: https://www.elephant.se/primelephas.php Diversity of limb long bone morphology among proboscideans: how to be the biggest one in the family: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1... Chronology of the extant African elephant species and case study of the species identification of the small African elephant with the molecular phylogenetic method - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science... Researchers Split African Elephants into Two Species (Science) - https://www.science.org/content/artic... Introducing the Subspecies of Asian Elephants - https://news.wildlifesos.org/introduc... The 7 Types of Elephants and Where to find them in the Wild - https://www.thewildlifediaries.com/ty... Origins of the Elephas maximus Members in Borneo - https://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/dow... Music from Sonic Generations and Cafe de Touhou #elephant #evolution #paleontology