![]() Later DNA results showed that the Bardia elephants were genetically bottlenecked and quite distinct compared to other Asian elephant populations, but they were definitely part of E. hysudricus, and suggested that bottlenecking had resulted in the emergence of genetic ‘throwbacks’ in the Bardia region. Lister (1995) noted that the Bardia elephants superficially resembled E. Somewhere, things had gotten confused, and the reference to Stegodon isn’t made in Blashford-Snell and Lenska’s 1996 book. In fact the Bardia elephants don’t look like Stegodon at all, and when lecturing on the Bardia elephants the picture that Blashford-Snell would show of a Stegodon was not a Stegodon at all, but in fact a reconstruction of the fossil Asian species Elephas hysudricus from Osborn’s 1942 The Proboscidea. This idea seems to have originated from Clive Coy at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology and was promoted by John Blashford-Snell, who led an expedition to film the Bardia elephants and (with actress Rula Lenska) later wrote a book on them (Blashford-Snell & Lenska 1996). Both animals exhibited particularly massive skull domes and a large nasal convexity, and this unusual appearance led to the speculation that the animals might be living examples of Stegodon. Raja Gaj was about 3 m tall at the shoulder. Since 1987, two particularly large bull Asian elephants – Raja Gaj and Kansha – have been observed, photographed and filmed in Bardia National Park, Nepal (Blashford-Snell & Lenska, Lister & Blashford-Snell 1999). ![]() ![]() These aren’t unusual features they’re typical for big, old males, but they’re unfamiliar to many people because they’re used to seeing females or juveniles of this species. You’ll note that he has large twinned domes on the top of his head, and a large bony convexity at the base of his trunk.
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