Surus ("the Syrian") was believed to be the last war elephant of Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca's army in Italy. Several Roman writers give accounts of Surus, which was probably a large Asian elephant with one tusk. Although a Carthaginian coin struck in the time of Hannibal depicts an African elephant, historians believe Surus was an Indian elephant descended from those seized by Ptolemies of Egypt, Alexander's successors, in their campaigns in Syria