pygmy elephant

Pygmy elephants are smaller elephant populations found in isolated regions, most notably the Borneo pygmy elephant of Southeast Asia.

Whether they constitute distinct subspecies or are simply smaller variants remains debated among scientists.

Standing around eight feet tall—considerably shorter than their mainland relatives—they adapted to island environments where smaller body size proved advantageous.

The term sometimes appears in discussions of island dwarfism, the evolutionary tendency for large animals on islands to shrink over generations.