Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis

Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis is an extinct species of dwarf elephant, with remains attributed to it from both Malta and Sicily during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. It is derived from the European mainland straight-tusked elephant, and all remains attributed to it are thought to descend ultimately from that species, with the ancestors dispersing first from southern Italy to Sicily and then to Malta. It was first named Elephas mnaidriensis in 1874 by Andrew Leith Adams from material from the Mnaidra gap in Malta, and a 1942 publication by Henry Fairfield Osborn first placed it in Palaeoloxodon, a placement generally accepted by the 2000s. There is confusion about which remains belong to it, and some authors argue that the Sicilian remains should be treated as a separate species, while the species may be a wastebin for moderately dwarfed Sicilian and Maltese elephants.