Elephants

Elephants

Elephants are the only largest mammal on the land of Earth. Elephants only have three different species. These are:

1. African Bush Elephant: Roams the African savanna and is biggest of the three species. The males or bulls can stand up to 4m (13ft.) tall and weigh between 6,000 kg to 9,000 kg.

2. African Forest Elephant: They are found in the rainforests of central and West Africa. These elephants are much smaller than their savanna relatives, an adults stand at 2.5 (8ft.) and weigh around 2,700 kg.

3. Asian Elephant: They live in the dense lowland jungle of south and Southeast Asia. In terms of size and weight, they lies somewhere in between its two African cousins.

All elephants share the same basic body plan. These mammals have large, barrel shaped bodies with a distinctive downward curving (convex) spine. Four pillar like legs support the elephant`s heavy head and giant frame. All elephants have large flapping ears, but the ears of the two African species are much larger than those of their Asian counterpart. A network of blood vessels in the ears radiates heat away from the body, helping to keep elephants cool in hot and humid conditions where they live. Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of an elephant`s body is its long trunk. The trunk is a long extension of the animal`s upper lip and nose. The elephant`s muscular trunk is extremely flexible. Elephants use them to perform a wide range of tasks, such as lifting heavy logs and plucking leaves from the tallest branches. The elephant also uses its trunk as a hose to squirt water (and dust) over its body. The tip of the Asian elephant`s trunk is slightly different to those of the African species. In Asian elephants, the trunk ends with a single finger like projection, called a process. African elephants have two processes on the end of their trunks. The processes are highly mobile and are used to pick up small objects. Elephants eat a lot of food to support their enormous bulk. An adult bull needs about 160 kg of food every day. They use their muscular trunks to pull down branches and then pick off the foliage with great dexterity using the processes at the tips of their trunks. Elephants eat a wide range of plant material, from bark and branches to grasses, leaves, green shoots and occasionally, fruit in the case of the African forest elephant. One unusual feeding habit of elephants is the way they supplement their diet by eating salt. Elephants often visit diet areas of salt rich soil, breaking up the salt crystals with their long tusks. The location of these salt sites seems to pass through the generations as young elephants learn from older members of the herd.

Elephants live in groups called herds, which consist of a dominant (usually the oldest) female, called the matriarch and young female relatives and their offspring. In areas of dense vegetation, different herds of African elephants often join together to form large groups containing 100 or more individuals. Communication is very important among members of the herd. Elephants call to each other and stamp their feet to communicate and they also co-operate, for example, when one member of the herd stands as a lookout while the other elephants take dust baths. The sense of touch seems to play an important part in elephant communication. Elephants greet each other by standing close and intertwining their trunks and females are rarely more than a trunk`s length away from their young, called calves. Elephants enjoy a mixed relationship with people. But human activities, such as forest clearance and hunting, have also decimated the elephant population in some parts of the World. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the African elephant as vulnerable and the Asian elephant as endangered, the biggest impact on elephant numbers has been hunting.

Reference

1. Britannica Reference Encyclopaedia

2. Knowledge Encyclopedia Animal!: The Animal Kingdom as you've Never Seen it Before

3. Images are taken from Zoo-Que and Google.

4. In Defense of Plants: An Exploration Into the Wonder of Plants

5. A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of India

6. Earth: A Sustainable Planet

Also See

• Migration & Navigation of Birds

• Archaeopteryx – The First Bird`s Fossil

• Parrots

• Bats