The Proboscidea of the Past

[Wolverine]

(05-01-2018, 11:24 AM)Rishi Wrote:

(05-01-2018, 06:56 AM)Wolverine Wrote: @Rishi probably you have heard that according new studies the largest land mammal specie ever to live on Earth is Paleoloxodon namadicus with estimated mass of 22 tons and the largest bone from this ancient elephant was found in India a 170 years ago by British researcher Prinsep (1834). Currently the femur of the giant must be stored SOMEWHERE in the museums of Calcutta.... Have you seen personally this gigantic femur in the open exposition and could you send us some photos of it? In this scientific article (Asier Larramendi, Shoulder height, body mass, and shape of proboscideans, page 559) are written following strange words:

"The distal femur portion of this specimen must be restudied. The fossils are LIKELY stored in the Indian Museum of Kolkata; until such a collection can be revised this size estimate will remain speculative."

https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published...362014.pdf

...I have an impression that nobody knows where exactly is stored this gigantic femur... If I am not wrong no current photos, only old descriptions. You understand the word is for mammal with size of dinosaur.. .You can see a paint of the animal in the very bottom of this article.

I think the femur could be there. I haven't been there in a while & i wasn't specifically looking for it last time either. I intend to go once after June before i leave Kolkata. I'll keep an eye out...

I remember its skull though. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

About 6'6" high. Big.. but not 22ton big. I think it had a smallish head compared to its body.
It's about 1.5 times the size of the Stegodon Ganesha skull (±12 tonne)...

*This image is copyright of its original author

...which itself is bit larger than two 6.5tonne Asian elephant skulls (1st one was not wild)

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

No, no, from that giant has survived only a front part of the femur, this skull on the photo is from another smaller specimen, there are quite a few residuals from diferent Paleoloxodons discovered in India. Actually the painting of that colossal specimen is posted in page 1 of this thread by Tigerluver - post 1, very bottom of post 1 right side.

https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-the-pro...f-the-past

Where is now this partial broken femur, I guess nobody from Western scientists have seen that bone from decades, the conclusion that Paleoloxodon namadicus was the largest land mammal ever in the article is based I guess only on old descriptions and paintings of the femur, I could be wrong. 

Its curious why British in 19 century didn't steal that fossils as they usually did in their former colonies?... Probably they didn't realise the colossal size of the specimen to which belonged that femur.
During the British Raj Calcutta as you know was the capital of British India and probably had the second highest density of genius people in the world after London. Reply