What is the scientific name of the Asian elephant?

The scientific name of the Asian elephant is Elephas maximus. In binomial nomenclature, Elephas identifies the genus and maximus identifies the species; together, the two words form the species’ formal name.

Carl Linnaeus proposed the name in 1758 in the tenth edition of Systema Naturae, a foundational work in modern biological classification. The name is especially notable because some of the specimens and descriptions available to Linnaeus were mixed or incomplete, and later research clarified the identity of the species’ type material.

The Asian elephant is the only living species in the genus Elephas. Recognized subspecies include the Indian elephant, Elephas maximus indicus; the Sri Lankan elephant, E. m. maximus; and the Sumatran elephant, E. m. sumatranus.

The name is sometimes confused with Loxodonta africana, the African bush elephant, and Loxodonta cyclotis, the African forest elephant. Those species belong to a different genus, Loxodonta, despite being close relatives.