One of the largest known elephant species, mature fully grown bulls on average had a shoulder height of 4 metres (13 ft) and a weight of 13 tonnes (29,000 lb).

Skeletons found in association with stone tools and in one case, a wooden spear, suggest they were scavenged and hunted by early humans, including Homo heidelbergensis and their Neanderthal successors.

The species became extinct during the latter half of the Last Glacial Period, with the youngest remains found in the Iberian Peninsula, dating to around 44,000 years ago.

Two morphs of P. antiquus were previously thought to exist in Europe on the basis of differences in the parieto-occipital crest, one more similar to the South Asian Palaeoloxodon namadicus.

P. antiquus differs from P. namadicus in having a less stout cranium and more robust limb bones, and in lacking a teardrop-shaped indentation behind the eye socket (infraorbital depression).

[6] Under optimal conditions where individuals were capable of reaching full growth potential, 90% of mature fully grown straight-tusked elephant bulls are estimated to have had shoulder heights in the region of 3.8–4.2 m (12.5–13.8 ft) and a weight between 10.8–15 tonnes (24,000–33,000 lb).

[3][6] Extremely large bulls, such as those represented by a now lost pelvis and tibia collected from Spain in the late 19th century, may have reached shoulder heights of 4.6 m (15.1 ft) and body masses of over 19 tonnes (42,000 lb).

The preserved portion of one particularly large and thick tusk from Aniene, Italy, is 3.9 metres (13 ft) in length, has a circumference of around 77 centimetres (30 in) where it would have exited the skull, and is estimated to have weighed over 190 kilograms (420 lb) in life.

A particularly large female known from a pelvis found near Binsfeld in Germany has been estimated to have had a shoulder height of 3.3 metres (10.8 ft) and a weight of 7.5 tonnes (17,000 lb).

[3] For comparison, 90% of fully grown female African bush elephants reach an shoulder height of 2.47 to 2.75 metres (8.1 to 9.0 ft) and body mass of 2.6 to 3.5 tonnes (5,700 to 7,700 lb) under optimal growth conditions.

[8] A largely complete 5 year old calf from Cova del Rinoceront in Spain was estimated to have a shoulder height of 178–187 centimetres (5.8–6.1 ft) and a body mass of 1.45–1.5 tonnes (3,200–3,300 lb), which is comparable to a similarly aged African bush elephant.

[2] The straight-tusked elephant was scientifically named in 1847 by British palaeontologists Hugh Falconer and Proby Cautley as Elephas (Euelephas) antiquus.

[14] In 1924, the Japanese paleontologist Matsumoto Hikoshichirō assigned E. antiquus to his new taxon Palaeoloxodon, which he classified as a subgenus of Loxodonta (which includes the living African elephants).

P. antiquus first appeared during the Middle Pleistocene, with the earliest record of Palaeoloxodon in Europe being from the Slivia site in Italy, dating to around 800–700,000 years ago.

During P. antiquus's hundreds of thousands of years of existence, its tooth morphology remained relatively static, unlike European mammoth populations.

The responsible factors for the dwarfing of animals on islands are thought to include the reduction in food availability, predation and competition from other herbivores.

[33] Like modern elephants, the herds would have been restricted to areas with available fresh water due to the greater hydration needs and lower mobility of the juveniles.

Fossil tracks of newborns, calves and adults, which are likely of a herd of P. antiquus, have been found in dune deposits in southern Spain, dating to the early Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, around 130–80,000 years ago).

However, microwear only reflects the diet in the last few days or weeks before death, so the observed dietary variation may be seasonal,[34] as is the case with living elephants.

[31] Dental mesowear analysis suggests that the diet also varied according to local environmental conditions, with individuals occupying more grass-dominated open environments having a greater grazing-related wear signal.

[35] Preserved stomach contents of German specimens found at Neumark Nord suggests that in temperate Europe, its diet included trees such as maple, linden/lime, hornbeam, hazel, alder, beech, ash, oak, elm, spruce and possibly juniper, as well as other plants like ivy, Pyracantha, Artemisia, mistletoe (Viscum), thistles (Carduus and Cirsium), grass and sedges (Carex), as well as members of Apiaceae, Lauraceae, Rosaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Asteraceae (including the subfamily Lactuceae).

[5] During interglacial periods, P. antiquus existed as part of the Palaeoloxodon antiquus large-mammal assemblage, along with other temperate adapted megafauna species, including the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), rhinoceroses belonging to the genus Stephanorhinus (Merck's rhinoceros S. kirchbergensis and the narrow-nosed rhinoceros S. hemitoechus), the European water buffalo (Bubalus murrensis), bison (Bison spp.

[42] Remains of straight-tusked elephants at numerous sites are associated with stone tools and/or bear cut and percussion marks indicative of butchery by archaic humans.

[30][66] Palaeoloxodon antiquus retreated from northern Europe after the end of the Eemian interglacial around 115,000 years ago due to climatic conditions becoming unfavourable, and fossils after that time during the Last Glacial Period are rare.

[68][69] Another late Italian record has been reported from Mousterian layers in Barma Grande cave in northwest Italy, probably dating to around the same time as Grotta Guattari, which has been suggested to display evidence of butchery by Neanderthals.

[73] Some authors have suggested that P. antiquus likely survived until around 28,000 years ago in the southern Iberian Peninsula based on footprints found in Southwest Portugal[74] and Gibraltar.