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"Moreover, the Roman elephants were smaller African elephants, effectively useless against the large Asian elephants the Seleucids used" I thought African elep

"Moreover, the Roman elephants were smaller African elephants, effectively useless against the large Asian elephants the Seleucids used" I thought African elephants were larger than Asian elephants?

rendall 6y ago
I was just coming here to comment on this. The blog is "Unmitigated Pedantry" after all so I think this kind of detail would be appreciated
- strulovich 6y ago
  It is mentioned in one of the captions.
z3phyr 6y ago
There were two kinds of African Elephants; one from North Africa were domesticated and became extinct due to overexploitation. North African elephants were very small and lightly built compared to Asian varieties. The White African Elephants of the Savanah, to which we all are familiar were never domesticated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_African_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_African_elephant
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  > were domesticated and became extinct due to overexploitation That would be a highly unusual trajectory. Were they really domesticated? Indian elephants were never domesticated either, because it's more cost-effective to capture them from the wild than to invest the decades it takes to rear a calf in captivity. And this sort of arrangement is vastly more conducive to extinction through overexploitation than domesticating the animal would be.
  - DavidAdams 6y ago
    My guess is that these elephants weren't actually domesticated, but rather tamed. That is, as with Asian elephants, they were captured in the wild rather than raised in captivity.
- marci 6y ago
  There were three african species, now there are two: - the (bigger) african bush elephant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_bush_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_bush_elephant) - the (smaller) african forest elephant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_forest_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_forest_elephant)
- InfiniteRand 6y ago
  Was over-exploitation really the key factor in North African elephants going extinct? I always thought it was due to increasing desertification + the expansion of human settlement in North Africa, but that's just idle speculation

"Moreover, the Roman elephants were smaller African elephants, effectively useless against the large Asian elephants the Seleucids used" I thought African elephants were larger than Asian elephants?

rendall 6y ago

I was just coming here to comment on this. The blog is "Unmitigated Pedantry" after all so I think this kind of detail would be appreciated

strulovich 6y ago
It is mentioned in one of the captions.

z3phyr 6y ago

There were two kinds of African Elephants; one from North Africa were domesticated and became extinct due to overexploitation. North African elephants were very small and lightly built compared to Asian varieties. The White African Elephants of the Savanah, to which we all are familiar were never domesticated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_African_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_African_elephant

thaumasiotes 6y ago
> were domesticated and became extinct due to overexploitation That would be a highly unusual trajectory. Were they really domesticated? Indian elephants were never domesticated either, because it's more cost-effective to capture them from the wild than to invest the decades it takes to rear a calf in captivity. And this sort of arrangement is vastly more conducive to extinction through overexploitation than domesticating the animal would be.
- DavidAdams 6y ago
  My guess is that these elephants weren't actually domesticated, but rather tamed. That is, as with Asian elephants, they were captured in the wild rather than raised in captivity.
marci 6y ago
There were three african species, now there are two: - the (bigger) african bush elephant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_bush_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_bush_elephant) - the (smaller) african forest elephant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_forest_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_forest_elephant)
InfiniteRand 6y ago
Was over-exploitation really the key factor in North African elephants going extinct? I always thought it was due to increasing desertification + the expansion of human settlement in North Africa, but that's just idle speculation