The discovery of a giant elephant skull in northern India’s Kashmir Valley has illuminated an enigmatic chapter in the evolutionary history of elephants. Unearthed in 2000, this fossil skull was found alongside 87 prehistoric stone tools, indicating a potential interaction between early humans and this extinct elephant. Dr. Ghulam Bhat from the University of Jammu led the excavation, and an international team of scientists, including Dr. Steven Zhang from the University of Helsinki, has recently analyzed the skull in a study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The skull belongs to the genus Palaeoloxodon, or straight-tusked elephants, which were among the largest land mammals to ever exist. According to Dr. Zhang, adult Palaeoloxodon could reach up to four meters tall at the shoulder and weigh between nine to ten tons. However, the Kashmir skull lacks a distinctive crest on the top of the skull that is typically found in Palaeoloxodon specimens from other regions, particularly in mature males. This unusual trait has long puzzled scientists.
The absence of the crest led to questions about whether this skull represented a different species or a unique developmental stage within known species. Research has shown that the skull crest in Palaeoloxodon became more pronounced with age and sexual maturity, suggesting it could serve as an indicator of evolutionary relationships among species. By examining the skull’s size, dental structure, and specific features, the team concluded that the Kashmir specimen represents a mature bull elephant, yet it lacks the prominent crest seen in comparable specimens from Europe and India. This distinction suggested to Dr. Zhang and his colleagues that the Kashmir skull could belong to a different species.
Interestingly, the Kashmir skull bears striking similarities to another obscure Palaeoloxodon specimen from Turkmenistan, which was studied in the 1950s and proposed as a distinct species, Palaeoloxodon turkmenicus. The Turkmen specimen also lacks a pronounced skull crest but otherwise resembles the well-documented European species, Palaeoloxodon antiquus. Initially, many researchers believed the Turkmen specimen was simply an aberrant individual of P. antiquus. However, with the discovery of the Kashmir skull, scientists now suspect that these two fossils may represent a previously underrecognized species with a range that extended from Central Asia to the northern Indian subcontinent.
Dr. Advait Jukar from the Florida Museum of Natural History, the study’s lead author, suggests that the two specimens collectively indicate the existence of a distinct species that evolved separately within this broad geographic region.
To determine the age of the Kashmir skull, researchers analyzed protein decomposition in its tooth enamel and examined the stone tools found alongside the fossil. Their findings date the skull to the Middle Pleistocene, roughly 300,000 to 400,000 years ago—a period that aligns with the estimated age of the Turkmen specimen. This timeframe supports the idea that both fossils belong to a unique species separate from other Eurasian Palaeoloxodon.
The evolutionary journey of Palaeoloxodon began in Africa around one million years ago, where early forms of the species displayed a narrow, convex forehead and lacked a pronounced skull crest. As the species diversified, later Palaeoloxodon populations—most commonly found in Europe and India—developed a characteristic wide, flat forehead and a thickened crest jutting forward from the skull roof. The Kashmiri and Turkmen specimens, with their broad foreheads and minimal crests, may represent a transitional form that fills an evolutionary gap, linking the older African forms with the more derived European and Indian varieties.
This discovery sheds light on the diversity of Palaeoloxodon and suggests that these giant herbivores were more complex and widespread than previously understood. The Kashmir skull not only expands our understanding of the evolutionary tree of elephants but also highlights the ancient connections between early human tools and the environments shared with these extinct giants.
Source: University of Helsinki