Abstract
ABSTRACT I present 1) baseline information on ontogeny in Recent elephants, and 2) some preliminary comparisons with fossil specimens. Relationships between size, state of skeletal fusion, and dental stage are similar in the two Recent species, Loxodonta africana and Elephas maximus. Limb bones that complete epiphyseal fusion late in ontogeny also grow more in absolute terms. Growth and dental progression are linearly related and probably gradual with respect to time, whereas skeletal fusion appears to be concentrated within a short period. Females are small and advanced in skeletal fusion for their dental stages. Limb proportions in elephants change with increasing size: the scapula becomes longer relative to other bones, and the femur becomes longer relative to the tibia. Among L. africana, E. maximus, and Mammuthus columbi, animals similar in size have similar limb proportions; the largest individuals, of L. africana and M. columbi, have exaggerated proportions and are therefore peramorphic. One might ...
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