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Prehistoric Life

How tall was Palaeoloxodon antiquus?

An adult Palaeoloxodon antiquus stood about 4 m (13 ft) at the shoulder.

What is measured: adult shoulder height

Palaeoloxodon antiquus (4 m) drawn to scale beside a doorway (2 m) and a 20-foot shipping container (6.06 m)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Doorway (2 m), Palaeoloxodon antiquus (4 m) and Shipping container (20 ft) (6.06 m).

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How big is that, really?

  • About 2× as tall as a doorway
  • About 2.4× as tall as an adult person
  • About 66% of the length of a 20-foot shipping container
  • About 33% of the length of a city bus
  • About 10× as tall as a bowling pin

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Facts about Palaeoloxodon antiquus

Straight-tusked elephants lived across Ice Age Europe and could be substantially larger than living African elephants.

Source: Natural History Museum — Straight-tusked elephant; University of Helsinki — Palaeoloxodon antiquus

Prehistoric Life

NameSizeCompared with Palaeoloxodon antiquus
Arctodus simus3.4 m (11 ft)0.85×
Megatherium americanum3.5 m (11 ft)0.88×
Edaphosaurus pogonias3.5 m (11 ft)0.88×
Ornithomimus edmontonicus3.5 m (11 ft)0.88×
Dinornis robustus3.6 m (12 ft)0.9×
Palaeoloxodon antiquus4 m (13 ft)this page
Deinotherium giganteum4 m (13 ft)same size
Mammuthus columbi4 m (13 ft)same size
Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis4.5 m (15 ft)1.1×
Anhanguera santanae4.6 m (15 ft)1.1×

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