L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano E lephants, the gentle giants of t h e a n i m a l k i n g d o m , a r e t o d a y f o u n d o n l y i n t w o p l a c e s i n t h e w o r l d , A f r i c a a n d S o u t h - East Asia. But did you know that, a long time ago during p r e h i s t o r y , t h e r e w e r e elephants in Sicily, too? Y e s , t h e s e b e a u t i f u l animals of the elephantidae f a m i l y u s e d t o b e q u i t e c o m m o n a r o u n d t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n . T h e Sicilian dwarf elephant, w h o s e s c i e n t i f i c n a m e i s elephas falconeri, was one of the main inhabitants of the island before Man took residence, around 11,000 years ago. We don't really know how elephants made it to Sicily, but scientists s p e c u l a t e t h a t , p o s s i b l y , they crossed to the island e i t h e r b y s w i m m i n g o r during a time when sea level was much lower: the idea of them swimming shouldn't surprise you, as elephants are still known for taking to t h e w a t e r q u i t e h a p p i l y today. I t s e e m s t h e t i n y e l e p h a n t , t h a t r e a c h e d about 1 meter in height at the shoulder, evolved from the much larger straight- tusked elephant ( elephas a n t i q u u s ) , a g i a n t t h a t roamed Europe up to 11,500 years ago. At 10 tonnes, this w a s a h u g e a n i m a l f o r a relatively small island such as Sicily: elephants are big eaters -- they need around 4 0 0 l b s o f f o o d d a i l y t o survive -- and the main way they have to source food is to roam around, changing habitats on a regular basis. Clearly, this wasn't possible in Sicily, a land surrounded b y w a t e r , w h i c h m e a n t straight-tusked elephants would have soon run out of food -- and left Sicily as dry a s a n o l d b o n e . E n t e r s evolution: to better adapt to their new environment, straight-tusked elephants reduced in size generation after generation, following what is normally known as " t h e i s l a n d r u l e , " a n evolutionary phenomenon common in every part of the w o r l d , w h e r e v e r a n i m a l s r e s i d e o n i s o l a t e d a r e a s , separated by water from the mainland. Just to give you an example, the shrinking of Sicilian elephants is the same process that reduced t h e s i z e o f t h e h o m i n i d s w h o m a n a g e d t o r e a c h Flores, in Indonesia, and l i v e d t h e r e b e t w e e n 190,000 and 50,000 years ago, when modern humans arrived. Flores men were o n l y a b o u t 1 m e t e r h i g h (around 3 ft) and their size diminished to increase their c h a n c e s o f s u r v i v a l i n a small habitat, where food c o u l d h a v e s o o n b e c o m e scarce. E x p e r t s c a m e t o t h e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t miniaturization probably w a s c o m p l e t e r e l a t i v e l y quickly, in order to allow the species to survive. B u t w h a t d i d t h e Sicilian dwarf elephant look like? Well, as they disappeared 10,000 years ago, we can't r e a l l y s a y f o r s u r e , b u t e n o u g h b o n e s h a v e b e e n f o u n d t o u n d e r s t a n d , a t least, how big they were: a d u l t m a l e s p r o b a b l y reached a shoulder height of 3.2 ft and weighed around 670 lbs, while adult females were slightly smaller, with a height of 2.8 ft and a weight of 370 lbs. S i c i l y ' s l i t t l e e l e p h a n t went extinct around 10,000 years ago, after 1000 years s h a r i n g i t s h a b i t a t w i t h a n o t h e r v e r y h u n g r y mammal: Man. R e c e n t l y , s c i e n t i s t s m a n a g e d t o r e t r i e v e a n d a n a l y z e a S i c i l i a n d w a r f elephant's DNA for the first time. Mitochondrial DNA w a s e x t r a c t e d a n d s e q u e n c e d f r o m a s k u l l found in a cave in Puntali, S i c i l y . B u t i t i s n ' t t h e e l e p h a s f a l c o n e r i w e a r e t a l k i n g a b o u t , b u t y e t another species, the elephas mnaidriensis, which came before the elephas falconeri a n d w a s c o n s i d e r a b l y larger, even if much smaller t h a n t h e s t r a i g h t - t u s k e d elephant: it had a shoulder height of about 5.9 ft and a weight of about 2,400 lbs. Both the Puntali elephant a n d t h e S i c i l i a n d w a r f elephant evolved from the same ancestor, the straight- tusked giant. A n d s o , w e f o u n d o u t t h a t , a m o n g t h e m a n y beautiful things in Sicily, o n c e u p o n a t i m e , t h e r e were also elephants: what a quirky idea, isn't it, that of seeing elephants as small as a Shetland pony roam the Sicilian countryside! E v e r y t h i n g related to this m o n t h i s settembrino ( s a i t - t e h m - b r e e - n o h ) , b e c a u s e s e t t e m b r i n o m e a n s " o f september" or "related to september." Italians started using settembrino back in the 18th century, so it's a relatively young word, at least to Italian standards! T h e r e i s s o m e t h i n g beautiful about settembrino, t h a t g o e s w e l l b e y o n d i t s meaning: there is a silvery c r i s p n e s s t o t h e w a y i t s o u n d s , r e m i n i s c e n t o f september's early morning air, a hint of chilly shivers in t h a t - b r - , c l o s e onomatopoeic sibling to the brrrr! we use when we're cold. But settembrino is also colors! It's the red, orange and purples of the hills of Tuscany and Piedmont, the p e a r l y g r e y o f t h e s k y o n some warmer days, when t h e s u n h i d e s b e h i n d t h e clouds but wants us to feel as if we were still in summer. Settembrino is the purest of azures, too, that we see up above us when clouds are off a n d t h e a i r a r o u n d i s a s f r e s h a s a g u l p o f A l p i n e water. When and why do we use settembrino? Anytime we w a n t t o s p e a k a b o u t t h e m o n t h o f s e p t e m b e r a n d a b o u t a l l t h e a c t i v i t i e s related to it. Il festival della v e n d e m m i a è u n ' u s a n z a settembrina del mio paese ("The harvest fair is a typical september tradition in my village") is a good example of its use, just as adoro l'aria s e t t e m b r i n a , è f r e s c a e r i n v i g o r e n t e ! ( " I l o v e September's air: it's so fresh and reinvigorating!" I n I t a l i a n , s e t t e m b r i n i a r e a l s o f l o w e r s : l i l a c i n c o l o r a n d k n o w n a l s o a s a s t e r , t h e y a r e c a l l e d M i c h a e l m a s d a i s i e s i n English, or aster, just like in Italian. - E ' t r a d i z i o n e n e l m i o paese fare una camminata s e t t e m b r i n a l ' u l t i m a domenica del mese - I t ' s a t r a d i t i o n o f m y village to have a "September walk" on the last sunday of the month - F u n g h i , t a r t u f i e u v a s o n o t i p i c i p r o d o t t i settembrini - W i l d m u s h r o o m s , t r u f f l e s a n d g r a p e s a r e t y p i c a l p r o d u c e o f September - I s e t t e m b r i n i m i piacciono tantissimo. Sono così allegri! - I l o v e a s t e r s , t h e y a r e such cheerful flowers! LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: settembrino, as everything we have this month! Curiosity of the week: did you know there were elephants in Sicily? Elephant Fountain, or Fontana dell`Elefante, in Catania. Elephants are one of the symbols of the city (Photo: Olena Buyskykh/Dreamstime) © Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.com

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