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African Elephant
The elephants (Elephantidae) are a family of pachyderm, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea in the class Mammalia. | | Elephantidae has three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant (until recently known collectively as the African Elephant), and the Asian Elephant (also known as the Indian Elephant). Other species have become extinct since the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago. | | Elephants are mammals, and the largest land animals alive today. The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kg (265 lb). An elephant may live as long as 70 years, sometimes longer. | | This elephant is 37 years old. | | Elephants are considered symbols of wisdom in Asian cultures, and are famed for their exceptional memory and high intelligence, rivalled only by cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and hominids (primates). | | Elephants are increasingly threatened by human intrusion. Between 1970 and 1989, the African elephant population plunged from 1.3 million to about 600,000 in 1989; the current population is estimated to be between 400,000 and 660,000. | | The elephant is now a protected species worldwide, placing restrictions on capture, domestic use, and trade in products such as ivory. | | If you would like to know more, just click on the other photos in my "African Elephant" series
Elephantidae Pachyderm Mammalia

African Elephant

African Elephant
With a mass of over 5kg, elephant brains are larger than that of any land animal, and only twice smaller than the brains of the largest of whales (that have body mass over twenty times greater than elephants). | | A wide variety of behavior, including grief, art, play, use of tools, compassion, self awareness and the best memory in the entire animal kingdom (far better than human memory capacity), evidence a highly intelligent species rivaled only by dolphins and primates (and humans). | | The largest areas in elephant brain are those responsible for hearing, smell and movement coordination, and a large portion of the brain has to do with trunk management and sensitivity. | | Increased out of any comparative proportion, the temporal lobe, responsible for processing of audio information, hearing and language, is relatively far greater than that of dolphins (which use elaborate echolocation) and humans (who use language and symbols). | | If you would like to know more, just click on the other photos in my "African Elephant" series
Elephant Elephantidae Pachyderm

African Elephant

African Elephant
The mammals of the genus "Loxodonta", often known collectively as African elephants, are currently found in 37 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. | | African elephants are distinguished from Asian elephants in several ways. The most noticeable difference is the ears. | | The large flapping ears of an elephant are very important for temperature regulation. Elephant ears are made of a very thin layer of skin stretched over cartilage and a rich network of blood vessels. | | On hot days, elephants will flap their ears constantly, creating a slight breeze. This breeze cools the surface blood vessels, and then the cooler blood gets circulated to the rest of the animal's body. The hot blood entering the ears can be cooled as much as ten degrees Fahrenheit before returning to the body. | | Differences in the ear sizes of African and Asian elephants can be explained, in part, by their geographical distribution. Africans originated and stayed near the equator, where it is warmer. Therefore, they have bigger ears. Asians live farther north, in slightly cooler climates, and thus have smaller ears. | | If you would like to know more, just click on the other photos in my "African Elephant" series
Elephant Elephantidae Pachyderm

African Elephant

African Elephant
The "proboscis", or trunk of an Elephant, is a fusion of the nose and upper lip, elongated and specialized to become the elephant's most important and versatile appendage. African elephants are equipped with two fingerlike projections at the tip of their trunk, while Asians have only one. According to biologists, the elephant's trunk is said to have over forty thousand individual muscles in it, making it sensitive enough to pick up a single blade of grass, yet strong enough to rip the branches off a tree. Some sources indicate that the correct number of muscles in an elephant's trunk is nearer to one hundred thousand. | | Most herbivores (plant eaters, like the elephant) are adapted with teeth for cutting and tearing off plant materials. However, except for the very young or infirm, elephants always use their trunks to tear up their food and then place it in their mouth. They will graze on grass or reach up into trees to grasp leaves, fruit, or entire branches. If the desired food item is too high up, the elephant will wrap its trunk around the tree or branch and shake its food loose or sometimes simply knock the tree down altogether. The trunk is also used for drinking. Elephants suck water up into the trunk (up to fifteen quarts [fourteen litres] at a time) and then blow it into their mouth. Elephants also inhale water to spray on their body during bathing. On top of this watery coating, the animal will then spray dirt and mud, which act as a protective sunscreen. | | This appendage also plays a key role in many social interactions. Familiar elephants will greet each other by entwining their trunks, much like a handshake. They also use them while play-wrestling, caressing during courtship, and for dominance displays - a raised trunk can be a warning or threat, while a lowered trunk can be a sign of submission. Elephants can defend themselves very well by flailing their trunk at unwanted intruders or by grasping and flinging them. | | An elephant also relies on its trunk for its highly developed sense of smell. Raising the trunk up in the air and swivelling it from side to side, like a periscope, it can determine the location of friends, enemies, and food sources. | | If you would like to know more, just click on the other photos in my "African Elephant" series
Elephant Elephantidae Pachyderm

African Elephant

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