Rediscovering Mammoths in Taiwan: The Type Specimens of Mammuthus armeniacus taiwanicus (Proboscidea, Elephantidae)

The recognition of a proboscidean subspecies, Mammuthus armeniacus taiwanicus, from the Pleistocene represents one of the milestones for paleontological research in Taiwan in the 1970s. However, the whereabouts of the holotype and referred specimens remain unknown due to curation issues. Here, we report the rediscovery of the holotype and five referred specimens in the Tainan City Zuojhen Fossil Park collection and National Taiwan University, out of 16 original specimens in the private and museum collections, after our intense search for historical fossil materials. Given the size difference between the holotype (smaller) from Taiwan and other Eurasian mammoths, this Taiwan mammoth may represent an island dwarf rather than only a subspecies of steppe mammoths as originally identified in 1975. Our rediscovery of original materials of mammoths from the Pleistocene of Taiwan promises to further test this taxonomic and evolutionary hypothesis in the eastern margin of Eurasia, and to elucidate the Pleistocene extinctions and faunal turnover leading to the modern biodiversity.