A skeleton of Mammuthus trogontherii (Proboscidea, Elephantidae) from NW Peloponnese, Greece

Fossil elephant remains were identified in Loussiká, NW Peloponnese, Southern Greece, when tusk fragments were recognized in a bulldozer backfill. An excavation carried out in 2001 and 2003 by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture revealed the partial skeleton of an adult male mammoth, referred to the Middle Pleistocene species Mammuthus trogontherii. The recovered material includes part of the skull, the complete mandible, several vertebrae and ribs, both scapulae, ulna, tibia, most carpal and tarsal bones, metapodials and phalanges. The metrical and anatomical study of the skeleton shows that the living individual was about 45 years old, stood about 3.80 m high and weighed about 8 t. M. trogontherii is a very rare species in Southern Europe. The Loussiká skeleton represents the first solid evidence of the species’ presence in Southern Greece and considerably expands to the south its palaeobiogeographic range in the Balkan area.