Family within the order Proboscidea, named by Gray 1821. The
family of elephants developed during middle Miocene (16 million
years ago) with its ancestor Primelephas. The first mammoths
(genus Mammuthus) appeared about 3 million years ago in africa.
120 000 years ago they started to migrate to northern europe,
and adapt to colder climate, while in africa, the mammoths
developed into the genus elephas, which spread also to asia and
europe, among others the "Forest elephant" Elephas antiquus.
Taxonomy (the surviving recent elephants) Up until now, the
presently living elephants have been divided into two species:
Asian and African. The DNA evidence, reported in the August 24,
2004 issue of the journal Science, provides a definitive answer
to the long-debated controversy.T he finding has implications
for both international law and conservation strategies. Recent
DNA tests have shown that the forest elephant is not a
subspecies of the African elephant but a true species. (See
links , ) Future taxonomy (?): The fa