Motty as a calf (above) and a
photo-manipulated image (below) of what he may have looked like had he survived
to adulthood (photo courtesy of Derek G. Lyon/Chester Zoo; photo-manipulation by
Paul Willison of public-domain photograph of adult bull African elephant)
For 11 days, a little elephant calf called Motty
was the world's first (and remains its only) intergeneric hybrid elephant,
resulting from an unanticipated mating between a male African elephant Loxodonta
africana and a female Asian elephant Elephas maximus at Chester Zoo,
England, in July 1978. In my previous ShukerNature article (click here), the second of two documenting this truly
unique animal (click here for my first
one), I mentioned that I had often wondered what Motty would have looked like if
he had survived to maturity, and I mourned the fact that we shall never know.
This is of course perfectly true, we can only speculate – but now, I'm delighted
to reveal that such speculation has acquired an astonishing and thoroughly
fascinating visual form.
Facebook friend and computer art enthusiast Paul Willison
shares my interest in what the adult appearance of Motty might have been.
Consequently, after reading both of my Motty articles and noting that in
overall body form (especially with regard to his long slimmer legs and large
triangular, pointed ears) Motty seemed somewhat closer to Loxodonta than
Elephas, Paul used his photoshop skills to transform the adult bull African
elephant present in each of two public-domain photographs into what may
conceivably be accurate images of Motty as a fully-mature elephant. Paul
utilised as his morphological guides the photographs of Motty as a calf that
appear in my articles, plus my detailed verbal description of him, which was based
in turn upon an official account of Motty prepared by Derek G. Lyon, who was
Chester Zoo's chief veterinary surgeon at the time of this remarkable little
elephant's existence there.
And here they are.
And:
Photoshopped adult bull African
elephant #2, now exhibiting the unique complement of morphological
characteristics possessed by Motty as a calf (public domain image
photo-manipulated by Paul Willison)
If these two photographs are directly compared with
their respective original, non-photoshopped versions (see below), it can be
readily seen how Motty's composite, intergeneric morphology might well have
yielded when translated into adult form an elephant that looked dramatically
different from any that had ever been seen before, one that was singularly
imposing and impressive.
For although he is likely to have retained the
overall stature and body proportions of his African elephant father as well as
his single large frontal skull dome, Motty would also most probably have
retained his paired posterior skull domes inherited from his Asian elephant
mother, as well as her species' very distinctive convex back, greater number of
toes per foot, and her single trunk-tip digit – features that do not occur in
African elephants (the latter possess two trunk-tip digits).
Original, unmodified African elephant
photo #1 (above), and the 'Motty-fied' version (below) (public domain; public
domain image photo-manipulated by Paul Willison)
And:
Original, unmodified African elephant
photo #2 (above), and the 'Motty-fied' version (below) (public domain; public
domain image photo-manipulated by Paul Willison)
Nor is this the end of the story. As Paul swiftly
recognised and brought to my own attention after completing his
photo-manipulations, the resulting images predicting the possible adult
appearance of Motty bear more than a passing resemblance (aside from shorter tusks and larger ears)
to a certain proboscidean that is spectacularly different from anything alive
today – nothing less, in fact, than the gargantuan Columbian mammoth Mammuthus
columbi, one of the most awe-inspiring prehistoric mammals of all time.
Native to North America and traditionally believed to
have become extinct around 12,500 years ago (but possibly a few millennia later,
due to the existence of certain contentious fossil remains that have yielded
more recent dates), adult males of this stupendous creature stood 13 ft tall at the shoulder, even overshadowing all but
the most exceptional of today's African elephants. It also sported enormous
tusks, almost 14 ft long in some instances.
Yet due to this species' very close taxonomic
affinity to the woolly mammoth M. primigenius (indeed, DNA evidence
suggests that the Jefferson mammoth M. jeffersonii of North America might
actually have been a naturally-occurring hybrid of the Columbian mammoth and
woolly mammoth), it may well have possessed characteristics recalling Elephas,
because the woolly mammoth is certainly more closely related to the modern-day
Asian elephant genus than to the African one.
Model of the Columbian mammoth on
exhibition last year at the Natural History Museum, London (© Dr Karl Shuker)
Also worthy of note here is that some mammalian
hybrids, ligers (lion x tigress hybrids) being a well-known example, actually
attain dimensions exceeding those achieved by both of their progenitor species.
Is it possible, therefore, that an adult Motty might have surpassed even his
African elephant father in stature, thereby providing yet another parallel with
the mighty Columbian mammoth?
Of course, all of this is speculation – entertaining,
certainly, but completely speculative nonetheless. Even so, perhaps we should
not be too surprised after all to discover that Motty, a hybrid deftly combining
the African elephant's basic build and proportions with the more specific
idiosyncrasies of the Asian elephant, may in adulthood have superficially recalled
the Columbian mammoth – a fascinating outcome that, if correct, makes his
demise even more tragic than ever, our modern-day world possibly having lost
the nearest morphological evocation of the majestic but long-bygone Columbian
mammoth that anyone will ever see.
My sincere thanks to Paul Willison for so kindly
preparing and making available to me for inclusion here the photo-manipulated
images of Motty's possible adult appearace.
Life-sized model of the Columbian
mammoth on exhibition last year at the Natural History Museum, London (© Dr
Karl Shuker)
By coincidence, I've been thinking about your earlier article for the past couple of days. It's one of the most moving articles I've read and has left an imprint of sadness that seems to have remained ever since.
ReplyDeleteI guess we can talk in the abstract and be objective all day long? It's still remarkable when the life of an animal we've never even met strikes an emotional chord.
I grew up near Tombstone Ariz, as i commented back during the discussions on the Tombstone Mystery Rapter episode. Near Tombstone flows the San Pedro River up from Mexico into the United States. A small river that you could jump across, it has been the only permanent flowing water in this region for millennia Animals have been coming down to drink at it for thousands of years. Including Columbian mammoths, along with a plethora of other extinct animals. There are several Clovis people sites along the river. At one place near where we lived, called Lehner Ranch mammoth kill site, several mammoths had been killed and butchered. I remember on a afternoon field trip from our small school, visiting this place, and looking down an excavation trench at a 8 foot, broke off,{who knows how long it originally was} mammoth tusk, with a perfect clovis point laying next to it, for display. Made quite an impression on me. I was only around 10 years old, and still remember the occasion very well. These things got BIG.
ReplyDeleteMan, if Motty lived to adulthood and had the kind of hybrid vigor that ligers and mules had and became larger than any african elephant . . . . . *long whistle* . . . . I hate to see ANY facility when he gets into musth, it would be like a Jurassic Park moment XD
ReplyDeleteWould he been fertile or sterile?
DeleteWould he had lost pigment around his face, trunk and ears like Asian elephants tend to do with age?
Would have been very interesting.
As there has never been an intergeneric hybrid elephant before or since Motty, there are no direct precedents upon which to predict answers to your questions, unfortunately. In general, male mammalian hybrids are more likely to be sterile than are female, as witnessed, for example, with big cat hybrids. Re the pigment loss, conversely, there is no way of knowing. But I agree entirely that it would have been very interesting.
DeleteWhat about reports of hybrid elephants born in zoos or circuses
DeleteThere aren't any confirmed reports of hybrid elephants born in zoos or circuses, only Motty.
ReplyDeleteWould motty have been able to breed or was he sterile. Are all big cat hybrids sterile after the second generation ( i.e litigon, liliger,) etc
ReplyDeleteSee my above comments re hybrids
DeleteWith no precedents, it is very difficult to estimate what his adult size would have been.
ReplyDelete