Mammuthus rumanus is a species of mammoth that lived during the Pliocene in Eurasia. It the oldest mammoth species known outside of Africa.[1]
| Mammuthus rumanus Temporal range: Late Pliocene, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | Elephantidae |
| Genus: | †Mammuthus |
| Species: | †M. rumanus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Mammuthus rumanus Ștefănescu, 1924 | |
Evolution
Mammuthus rumanus is suggested to have originated in Africa.[1] Material intermediate between African mammoths and Mammuthus rumanus has been reported from Bethlehem in the Levant, dating to sometime in the Late Pliocene, around 3-4 million years ago.[2] The oldest calibrated dates for Mammuthus rumanus and mammoths outside Africa are from Romania, dating to around 3.2 million years ago.[3] Remains have been reported spanning from Britain to China.[1] It is probably ancestral to Mammuthus meridionalis.[4]
Description
Mammuthus rumanus is only known from fragmentary remains, typically isolated teeth, with a mandible also known. The number of plates on the third molar teeth is around 8-10, consistently lower than is known in other non-African mammoth species, including M. meridionalis.[4]
Ecology
Studies of specimens from Britain found that they likely consumed browse and inhabited open environments.[5][6] In Europe, it coexisted alongside other proboscideans, including the mastodon species "Mammut" borsoni and the "tetralophodont gomphothere" Anancus arvernensis, likely niche partitioning with the latter by occupying different habitats.[5][6]