 discovered this bacterial species from a lung of a deceased elephant due to chronic respiratory disease in Sri Lanka, an island off the south end of India in the year 2000.A strain of the organism, 484t, was isolated on Lõwenstein-Jensen medium by these researchers.L-J medium, Columbia blood, MacConkey agar, Middlebrook 7H10 agar, and 5% sodium chloride agar served as cultures for "M. elephantis" at varying temperatures for 3 to 10 days.