Ancient Japanese Elephant Evolved Earlier Than Previously Thought, Analysis of DNA Suggests

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:21 JST, January 6, 2026

A Japanese-led research team announced that it has conducted the first successful DNA analysis of Naumann’s elephant, an extinct species which once roamed Japan.

Naumann’s elephant belongs to Palaeoloxodon, an extinct genus of straight-tusked elephants that originated in Africa and dispersed across Eurasia. The team consisting of members from the University of Yamanashi, the National Museum of Nature and Science and other institutions found that the species diverged from its African ancestors at an early date, estimated at as much as 1.05 million years ago.

The findings were published in the scientific journal iScience.

Some species within Palaeoloxodon exceeded 4 meters in height at the shoulder. By comparison, Naumann’s elephant was relatively small, standing about 2 meters to 3 meters at the shoulder. Its ancestors migrated to Japan when the landmass was connected to the continent during a glacial period hundreds of thousands of years ago, when sea levels were lower.

Naumann’s elephant is believed to have gone extinct in Japan between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago. While fossils have been discovered at about 300 sites nationwide, its genetic lineage had remained unknown.

The team successfully extracted and sequenced mitochondrial DNA — inherited from mother to offspring — from molar fossils of Naumann’s elephants dating from 49,000 and 34,000 years ago that were excavated in the village of Higashidori, Aomori Prefecture. The team compared these sequences with those from Palaeoloxodon fossils found in Germany and elsewhere.

Through the analysis, it was found that Naumann’s elephant represents an ancient lineage that diverged about 1.05 million years ago. It was previously thought that elephants from a more recent lineage gradually evolved smaller in Japan to become the Naumann’s elephant, but the latest findings strongly suggest that an early group migrating from Africa was its direct ancestor.

“It was found to be a living fossil that retained primitive characteristics lost on the continent,” said the team’s Naoki Kohno, director of the National Museum of Nature and Science’s Paleontology and Anthropology Department.

“This is an important achievement that allows us to infer details of its evolutionary history. Analysis of fossils from India and China, which are close to Japan, is also necessary,” said Keiichi Takahashi, Lake Biwa Museum honorary director and expert in paleontology.