Extinct giant elephant skeleton discovered in Indonesia

Times Online ^ | Tuesday, June 9, 2009 | Sophie Tedmanson

[SunkenCiv]

The accidental death of an elephant which had become bogged in mud 200,000 years ago led to the perfect preservation of its skeleton -- and a remarkable scientific discovery... the skeleton of the prehistoric ancestor to the modern Asian elephant which was fossilised in an abandoned sand quarry in East Java, Indonesia. The ancient bones were discovered after land collapsed at the sand quarry on the Indonesian island, adjacent to the Solo River, which killed two men in April. Researchers from the University of Wollongong in Australia and the Geological Survey Institute spent four weeks excavating the bones of the elephant, which is now extinct... Dr van den Bergh, who worked with the research team alongside Mike Morwood -- the Australian archaeologist who discovered the pygmy skeleton known as the Hobbit in an Indonesian cave in 2003 -- said they believe the elephant had become stuck in the sand and was quickly covered and buried by the rising water levels, therefore preserving the skeleton... Despite its age the skeleton is almost completely intact. Dr van den Bergh said scientists will now analyse its skull to test exactly how big it would have been, but they believe it was larger than the modern Asian elephant. The Asian elephant, which is usually slightly smaller than its African relatives, is considered endangered. The femur of the prehistoric skeleton measures 1.2m (4ft), while the shoulder height is estimated to measure approximately 3.2m (10.5 ft) -- a little larger than modern Asian elephants.

[SunkenCiv]

Rabbit-Size Elephant Ancestor Found — Oldest Known
nationalgeographic | June 23, 2009 | Mark Anderson
Posted on 06/25/2009 10:10:39 AM PDT by JoeProBono
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2279289/posts

[SunkenCiv]

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[OneWingedShark]

Indeed... but where are the Elephant-sized Rabbit ancestors?

[JoeProBono]

[GeronL]

but it is larger than todays African elephants?

[ScreamingFist]

The femur of the prehistoric skeleton measures 1.2m (4ft), while the shoulder height is estimated to measure approximately 3.2m (10.5 ft) -- a little larger than modern Asian elephants.

They found a big elephant......a GIANT elephant is twice that size, IMHO. Damn I wish I worked for government funds.

[Krankor]

The ancient bones were discovered after land collapsed at the sand quarry on the Indonesian island, adjacent to the Solo River, which killed two men in April.

Umm...200,000 years from now, the headline will read:
Extinct Skeletons of 2 Men Found in Indonesia

[xcamel]

um...

Skeletons of 2 Extinct Men Found in Indonesia

[jessduntno]

I hope the elephant was also giant, because that would have been MIGHTY uncomfortable if he wasn’t...

[SunkenCiv]

;’)

[jessduntno]

;’)

Seriously, are they simply teaching “Hate America 101” in journalism school these days?

[El Sordo]

Cool.

[Krankor]

i was trying to imitate the spirit of the original headline

[SunkenCiv]

They probably took that left at Albuquerque.

[SunkenCiv]

Imagine the backlog of email they’ll have by then.

[xcamel]

I was making fun of extinct skeletons

[calex59]

The femur of the prehistoric skeleton measures 1.2m (4ft), while the shoulder height is estimated to measure approximately 3.2m (10.5 ft) -- a little larger than modern Asian elephants.

So not exactly the "giant" elephant the headlines scream about.