Jeheskel "Hezy" Shoshani (Hebrew: יחזקאל שושני; January 23, 1943 – May 21, 2008) was an evolutionary biologist who studied elephants and their relatives for over 35 years.

[5] He went on to research elephants in Sri Lanka and Kenya[4] before moving to Detroit, Michigan in 1968[6] and becoming an undergraduate professor at Wayne State University around 1973.

[2] Shoshani was awarded his PhD from the university in 1986[6] and taught there while living with his wife Sandra and their pet rock hyrax[5] until he moved to Eritrea in 1998.

There, he studied a poorly-known population of African bush elephants that were threatened by conflicts between Eritrea and Ethiopia[3][7] and taught at the University of Asmara until 2006.

[1][3] He was also partially or wholly responsible for naming multiple proboscidean taxa, including the suborder Plesielephantiformes,[11] the family Numidotheriidae,[12] and the species Eritreum melakeghebrekristosi.