African forest elephant

African forest elephant
An African forest elephant with its calf
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Mammalia
Superorder:	Afrotheria
Order:	Proboscidea
Family:	Elephantidae
Genus:	Loxodonta
Species:	L. cyclotis
Range of the African forest elephant[1]   Resident   Possibly Extant (resident)   Possibly extinct

The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is an elephant which lives in the forests of the Congo Basin.

It is often considered a separate species from the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana); a 2010 study said that the two elephants were two different species. However, since the two groups can interbreed successfully, they may only be separate subspecies of Loxodonta africana. They are probably forest elephants whose small size is adapted to the rainforest conditions.

1. ↑ Cite error: The named reference iucn was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).