Stegodon is a genus of extinct elephants that lived in Asia during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. A dwarf population survived until 12,000 years ago on the Island of Flores. Its name is derived from the Greek words stegein ('to cover') and odοn ('tooth') because of the distinctive ridges on the animal's molars. Stegodon is believed to descend from Stegolophodon , and to be a sister group of the mammoth, as well as the modern Indian Elephant.
In the Bardia National Park in Nepal, there is a population of Indian Elephants, which due to inbreeding are very similar to the Stegodon and may retain many Stegodon features. Some dismiss these primitive features as recent mutations rather than atavisms [1].
There are eight known species of Stegodon:
- Stegodon sompoensis
- Stegodon aurorae
- Stegodon ganesha
- Stegodon orientalis
- Stegodon shinshuensis
- Stegodon trigonocephalus
- Stegodon sondaari
- Stegodon florensis
