Palaeogenomes of Eurasian straight-tusked elephants challenge the current view of elephant evolution

Abstract

The straight-tusked elephants <i>Palaeoloxodon</i> spp. were widespread across Eurasia during the Pleistocene. Phylogenetic reconstructions using morphological traits have grouped them with Asian elephants (<i>Elephas maximus</i>), and many paleontologists place <i>Palaeoloxodon</i> within <i>Elephas</i>. Here, we report the recovery of full mitochondrial genomes from four and partial nuclear genomes from two <i>P. antiquus</i> fossils. These fossils were collected at two sites in Germany, Neumark-Nord and Weimar-Ehringsdorf, and likely date to interglacial periods ~120 and ~244 thousand years ago, respectively. Unexpectedly, nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses suggest that <i>P. antiquus</i> was a close relative of extant African forest elephants (<i>Loxodonta cyclotis</i>). Species previously referred to <i>Palaeoloxodon</i> are thus most parsimoniously explained as having diverged from the lineage of <i>Loxodonta</i>, indicating that <i>Loxodonta</i> has not been constrained to Africa. Our results demonstrate that the current picture of elephant evolution is in need of substantial revision.