Asian elephants
Adult female Borneo elephants (left and centre) with a young elephant (right)
There are 3 currently-recognised subspecies of Asian elephant, Elephas maximus:
- E. m. maximus of Sri Lanka and southern India
- E. m. sumatrensis of Sumatra
- E. m. indicus throughout the rest of the range
The physical differences between them are a matter of degree and are expressed as gradual changes across the range:
- Elephants from Sri Lanka:
- are the largest
- have the darkest skin colour
- have the largest ears
- are most prone to pink depigmentation of the skin on the face, trunk and ears
- Elephants from Sumatra:
- are the smallest
- are lightest in colour
- are least prone to depigmentation
Borneo elephants
The elephants of north-east Borneo present an interesting case.
Genetically distinct from all other living populations, they may have been isolated there for hundreds of thousands of years, since Borneo was connected to the mainland during the ice ages.
However, there is circumstantial evidence that people imported them from Java a long time ago. Since elephants are extinct on Java, the Borneo population may represent the last surviving relict of the ‘Javanese’ subspecies.
Our research
Borneo elephants have been described as a separate subspecies, Elephas maximus borneensis. They are said to be pygmies, perhaps an example of ‘island dwarfing’.
A Natural History Museum-led expedition in 2008 investigated this claim by measuring the height of elephants in the field using a laser rangefinder technique.
Our results suggest that Borneo elephants are not significantly smaller than those of mainland south-east Asia. Our research on their status continues.