Reck's Ancient Elephant
Palaeoloxodon recki
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Chordata
Mammalia
Proboscidea
Elephantidae
Palaeoloxodon
Palaeoloxodon recki
The African Colossus — Palaeoloxodon recki, the giant straight-tusked elephant of Africa’s Pleistocene plains, was the largest land mammal ever to walk the continent, a towering herbivore that fed alongside early humans and the first true lions.
Description
Palaeoloxodon recki evolved from Palaeoloxodon recki shungurensis (early forms) in the late Pliocene, surviving for nearly 3 million years — one of the longest-lasting elephant lineages known. It dominated the grasslands and open woodlands of East Africa, its fossils abundant in the Omo Valley, Olduvai Gorge, and Turkana Basin.
This species was immense — males over 4.5 meters tall at the shoulder, their tusks straight, massive, and up to 4 meters long. The skull bore a distinct parietal crest, an anchor for powerful neck muscles supporting its heavy head. Tooth wear patterns and isotopic data show P. recki was primarily a grazer, feeding on coarse savanna grasses that replaced the more wooded habitats of its ancestors.
Genetically and morphologically, it is considered the African sister species of the European Palaeoloxodon antiquus and ancestral to later dwarf island species such as P. falconeri.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
6000
4.3
6.45
1.8
kg
m
m
m
Mixed Feeder
Herbivores – Grazers
Hunt History
Palaeoloxodon recki coexisted with early hominins — Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, and later Homo heidelbergensis. Stone tools found with P. recki bones in East African sites indicate scavenging and perhaps opportunistic hunting. These early humans likely exploited carcasses of elephants that died naturally, using Acheulean hand axes to butcher meat and marrow.
Archaeological and paleontological associations:
Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania — Fossil bones with cut marks from Acheulean tools (~1.2 million years BP).
Koobi Fora, Kenya — P. recki molars and tusks found with early human stone tool scatters (~1.5 million years BP).
Konso-Gardula, Ethiopia — Repeated associations between P. recki remains and Acheulean artifacts (~1.4–0.8 million years BP).
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Globally Extinct
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
600000
BP
Middle Pleistocene
Africa
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Medium
Fat %
8
Est. Renderable Fat
480
kg
Targeted Organs
Marrow, brain, visceral fat
Adipose Depots
Visceral (perirenal/mesenteric), limited subcutaneous; marrow, brain lipids
Preferred Cuts
Long-bone marrow & braincase
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
5