| Loxodonta atlantica Temporal range: Pliocene – Late Pleistocene | |
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| A stamp of Loxodonta atlantica | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | Elephantidae |
| Genus: | Loxodonta |
| Species: | †L. atlantica |
| Binomial name | |
| †Loxodonta atlantica Pomel, 1879 | |
Loxodonta atlantica is an extinct species of elephant in the genus Loxodonta, from Africa. It was larger than the modern African elephant, with more progressive dentition. It includes Pleistocene fossils from Ternifine, Middle Pleistocene fossils from Elandsfontein and Late Pliocene fossils from the Omo River, with a final dating in the Late Pleistocene. Loxodonta atlantica was said to probably derive from Loxodonta adaurora; however, an analysis in 2009 suggested that Loxodonta antlantica evolved from Loxodonta exoptata, and is ancestral to Loxodonta africana. The species is divided into two subspecies: Loxodonta atlantica atlantica (northern Africa) and Loxodonta atlantica zulu (southern Africa). The type for Loxodonta atlantica is housed in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, but is listed without a specimen number.