An Elephant-cow Hybrid?
Mammalian Hybrids
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The Indians plow with a smaller breed of elephants, which they call hybrids.
—Pliny
Natural History 8:1† |
A reconstruction of the elephant-cow hybrid described in the report quoted at left.
A cross between an elephant and a cow would be interordinal (Proboscidea × Artiodactyla), and no such hybrid has been confirmed by genetic testing. However, the following description of an ostensible elephant-cow hybrid appears on page 3, column 2, of the October 1, 1903, issue of the Republican News Item, a newspaper published in Laport, Pennsylvania (source):
Indian Elephant(Elephas maximus)
If the creature described actually did exist and was in fact an elephant-cow hybrid, then the elephant parent in question would most likely have been a male Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), which is the most common type of elephant kept in captivity (African elephants are less amenable to training). Moreover, the size difference between an Asian elephant and a cow would be less drastic than in the case of an African elephant. The elephant would likely have been the male partner since this animal is described as a calf born on a farm, in which case the mother would have been a cow.
† Indis arant minores [elephantes], quos appellant nothos.