[9][10][11] Mammoths (Mammuthus) are nested within living elephants as they are more closely related to Asian elephants than to African elephants. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. African elephants are the larger of the two species. Relatively small ears, convex or level back, bumpy head, narrow molar ridges, smooth skin with some blotches of, This page was last edited on 30 June 2023, at 12:18. [163], Historically, elephants were considered formidable instruments of war. Top 10 Facts of the World's Largest Land Animal [20 pics] Nick Brandt Did you know there are only three species of elephant living today? When they use waterholes, they end up making them bigger. From South Asia, the use of elephants in warfare spread west to Persia[164] and east to Southeast Asia. Another possible subspecies is Elephas maximus borneensis (Borneo pygmy elephant). [100] She remains leader of the group until death[93] or if she no longer has the energy for the role;[101] a study on zoo elephants found that the death of the matriarch led to greater stress in the surviving elephants. [148], African elephants receive at least some legal protection in every country where they are found. [46], The trunk's extreme flexibility allows it to forage and wrestle other elephants with it. As the tusk develops, it is topped with smooth cone-shaped enamel that eventually wanes. African bush elephants and Asian elephants are listed as endangered and African forest elephants as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [191] The story of the blind men and an elephant involves blind men touching different parts of an elephant and trying to figure out what it is.[192]. Adult males either live on their own or in small bachelor herds. [99] They are led by the matriarch which is often the eldest female. [80] While the elephant brain is larger overall, it is proportionally smaller than the human brain. [71], To support the animal's weight, an elephant's limbs are positioned more vertically under the body than in most other mammals. (68 and 158 kg) stands about 3 feet tall. Asian elephants were always more common than their African counterparts in modern zoos and circuses. [82] The lungs are attached to the diaphragm, and breathing relies less on the expanding of the ribcage. [97], Elephants are generally gregarious animals. They are typically surrogates for humans with ideal human values. [142] As with chimpanzees and dolphins, a dying or dead elephant may elicit attention and aid from others, including those from other groups. Similar to the bush species, but with smaller and more rounded ears and thinner and straighter tusks. (2,268 to 6,350 kilograms), according to National Geographic. [182] In Asia, the animals are depicted as motifs in Hindu and Buddhist shrines and temples. African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. [117] For young females, the approach of an older bull can be intimidating, so her relatives stay nearby for comfort. Elephants are very social and can communicate with one another and identify other elephants from distances of up to 2 miles using rumbling, low-pitched sounds that fall below the audible range of humans, according to the National Zoo. The elephantid genera Elephas (which includes the living Asian elephant) and Mammuthus (mammoths) migrated out of Africa during the late Pliocene, around 3.6 to 3.2 million years ago. [72] Elephants may also lack the pronator quadratus and pronator teres muscles or have very small ones. At Amboseli, young males may be away from their families 80% by 1415 years of age. Asian elephants have a single "finger" on the end of their trucks. [3][4] As in Mycenaean Greek, Homer used the Greek word to mean ivory, but after the time of Herodotus, it also referred to the animal. [76][77] The cushion pads expand and contract, and reduce both the pain and noise that would come from a very heavy animal moving. Irving - 1,250,000 Acres. They were described in Sanskrit texts as far back as 1500 BC. 19.10.2019 English Secondary School answered expert verified Elephants (a) _____ the largest land mammals. But why? [136], Elephants are known to communicate with seismics, vibrations produced by impacts on the earth's surface or acoustical waves that travel through it. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. At Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, elephants numbers have threatened several species of small birds that depend on woodlands. Male elephants sometimes stimulate each other by playfighting and "championships" may form between old bulls and younger male. [36] Calves may be preyed on by lions, spotted hyenas, and wild dogs in Africa[93] and tigers in Asia. [7] The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1974. [152] Asian elephants are potentially less vulnerable to the ivory trade, as females usually lack tusks. [99], Adult males live separate lives. The African bush elephant, also known as the savanna elephant, is the largest land animal on Earth. [81], The heart of an elephant weighs 1221kg (2646lb). Alloparenting where a calf is cared for by someone other than its mother takes place in some family groups. [86] Both males and family groups typically move no more than 20km (12mi) a day, but distances as far as 180km (112mi) have been recorded in the Etosha region of Namibia. 13 feet tall and weighing over 10 tons, the African Bush Elephant (also known as the African savanna elephant) is the heaviest land animal in the world. Copulation lasts about 45 seconds and does not involve pelvic thrusting or ejaculatory pause. In some areas, there may be seasonal influences on the timing of musths. [115] Most mate-guarding is done by musth males, and females seek them out, particularly older ones. ", "Complex Vibratory Patterns in an Elephant Larynx", "Male reproductive organs of the African elephant, Loxodonta africana", "Clues to the functions of mammalian sleep", "Mega-gardeners of the forest the role of elephants in seed dispersal", "Tiger kills elephant at Eravikulam park", "Leadership in elephants: the adaptive value of age", "Elephant Reproduction Project: The Estrous Cycle of Elephants", "Mate guarding, reproductive success and female choice in African elephants", "Gestating for 22 months: luteal development and pregnancy maintenance in elephants", "The influence of surface atmospheric conditions on the range and area reached by animal vocalizations", "African elephants show high levels of interest in the skulls and ivory of their own species", "Behavioural reactions of elephants towards a dying and deceased matriarch", "86 elephants killed in Chad poaching massacre", "China and US agree on ivory ban in bid to end illegal trade globally", "The domesticated Asian elephant in India", "Unemployed, Myanmar's Elephants Grow Antsy, and Heavier", "The elephant situation in Thailand and a plea for co-operation", "Elephant deaths at zoos reignite animal debate: Zoo supporters cite conservation, activists cite confined spaces", "Wild elephants live longer than their zoo counterparts", "Circus Myths: The true cruelty under the big top", "Circus CEO says elephants are struck, but not hurt", "Ringling Bros. elephants perform last show", "Elephant rage: they never forgive, either", "India sees uptick in deadly elephant attacks", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elephant&oldid=1162657651, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Pages using Sister project links with default search, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, Proboscidea phylogeny based on morphological and DNA evidence. [57], Elephants are usually right- or left-tusked, similar to humans, who are typically right- or left-handed. Asian elephants are just. [53] The infraorbital nerve, which makes the trunk sensitive to touch, is thicker than both the optic and auditory nerves. [101], Bulls engage in a behaviour known as mate-guarding, where they follow oestrous females and defend them from other males. Heres how it works. Elephants also pay close attention to the well-being of all the members of their herd, and will do what they can to take care of and protect weak or injured members. [85] When they dig for water during drought, they create waterholes that can be used by other animals. [22][29], Over the course of their evolution, probobscideans grew larger in size. In southern India, elephant populations may contain family groups, bond groups and possibly clans. Whether you measure in terms of weight, height or length, there is no denying some animals are huge in comparison to others in their class. [165] The Persians used them during the Achaemenid Empire (between the 6th and 4th centuries BC)[164] while Southeast Asian states first used war elephants possibly as early as the 5th century BC and continued to the 20th century. The first (or anovulatory) surge, appears to change the female's scent, signaling to males that she is in heat, but ovulation does not occur until the second (or ovulatory) surge. After CITES listed the Asian elephant under Appendix I in 1975, imports of the species almost stopped by the end of the 1980s. [183] One of the most important Hindu deities, the elephant-headed Ganesha, is ranked equal with the supreme gods Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma in some traditions. [125] Typically, only a single young is born, but twins sometimes occur. [179][180] Purportedly drunk elephants attacked an Indian village in December 2002, killing six people, which led to the retaliatory slaughter of about 200 elephants by locals. Elephants are the only animals that have a nose in the form of a hose that you use as a limb, and you use it to pull leaves, branches, and branches of trees, The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classifies the Asian elephant as endangered. With its trunk, an elephant can reach items up to 7m (23ft) high and dig for water in the mud or sand below. The African elephant is found on the continent of Africa and the Indian elephant is found in Asia. The cranium is particularly large and provides enough room for the attachment of muscles to support the entire head. [59] Asian males can have tusks as long as Africans', but they are usually slimmer and lighter; the largest recorded was 302cm (9ft 11in) long and weighed 39kg (86lb). The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. [50] Individuals may show lateral preference when grasping with their trunks: some prefer to twist them to the left, others to the right. [27] At the end of the Early Pleistocene, around 800,000 years ago the elephantid genus Palaeoloxodon dispersed outside of Africa, becoming widely distributed in Eurasia. Elephant calves grow quickly, gaining 2 to 3 lbs. [118] They are precocial and quickly stand and walk to follow their mother and family herd. These cavities give the inside of the skull a honeycomb-like appearance. The Indian elephant has been semi-domesticated and is used in logging camps and the tourist industry. [184] The ancient Romans, who kept the animals in captivity, depicted elephants more accurately than medieval Europeans who portrayed them more like fantasy creatures, with horse, bovine and boar-like traits, and trumpet-like trunks. The fast gait does not meet all the criteria of running, since there is no point where all the feet are off the ground, although the elephant uses its legs much like other running animals, and can move faster by quickening its stride. [121], Homosexual behaviour is frequent in both sexes. [51] They suck up water which is squirted into the mouth or over the body. Th elephant's gestation period is 22 months, (d) _________ longest for any land animal. 6 tons Length 19-24 feet Habitats Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests, Flooded Grasslands and Savannahs, Miombo woodlands, Acacia savannahs African elephants are the largest animals walking the Earth. The trunk is prehensile, bringing food and water to the mouth, and grasping objects. Although Asian elephants are declining in numbers overall, particularly in Southeast Asia, the population in Sri Lanka appears to have risen and elephant numbers in the Western Ghats may have stablised. Appearance As noted above, elephants are the largest land animal currently living on Earth. This has been interpreted as expressing "concern";[143] however, the Oxford Companion to Animal Behaviour (1987) said that "one is well advised to study the behaviour rather than attempting to get at any underlying emotion". [99], Female Asian elephants tend to have more fluid social associations. (75 to 150 kg) of food per day, according to the San Diego Zoo. : Ainurmalinda. Following the bans, unemployment rose in India and China, where the ivory industry was important economically. The muscles of the trunk connect to a bony opening in the skull. [155], Elephants have been working animals since at least the Indus Valley civilization over 4,000 years ago[156] and continue to be used in modern times. While most mammals have one surge of luteinizing hormone during the follicular phase, elephants have two. Proboscidean groups prominent during the Miocene include the deinotheres, along with the more advanced elephantimorphs, including mammutids (mastodons), gomphotheres, amebelodontids (which includes the "shovel tuskers" like Platybelodon), choerolophodontids and stegodontids. Females (cows) tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. This may allow the animal to deal with the pressure differences when its body is underwater and its trunk is breaking the surface for air. For instance, perhaps the most well-known aspect of African elephant . Whiskers grow all along the trunk, and are particularly packed at the tip, where they contribute to its tactile sensitivity. Asian elephants are just a little smaller, growing to between 6.6 and 9.8 feet (2 and 3 m) tall at the shoulder and weighing between 4,500 and 11,000 lbs. J.D. [64][65], An elephant's skin is generally very tough, at 2.5cm (1in) thick on the back and parts of the head. With their characteristic long noses, or trunks; large, floppy ears; and wide, thick legs, there is no other animal with a similar physique. They and other captive elephants are thus protected under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960. Males (bulls) leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. [85] Elephants average 34 hours of sleep per day. Subsequently, the US received many captive African elephants from Zimbabwe, which had an overabundance of the animals. African bush elephant - heaviest land animal. [174], Elephants can exhibit bouts of aggressive behaviour and engage in destructive actions against humans. [52] Elephants inhale mostly with the trunk, but also with the mouth. But typically, only male Asian elephants will grow large tusks, while the females and a few males have much smaller tusks called tushes that don't always grow outside the mouth. [167], Keeping elephants in zoos has met with some controversy. By these measures, Argentinosaurus was the largest dinosaur, as well as the largest land animal, ever known. [30] The larynx of the elephant is the largest known among mammals. The skin around the mouth, anus, and inside of the ear is considerably thinner. Size is the determining factor in agonistic encounters when the individuals have the same condition. [149] China was the biggest market for poached ivory but announced they would phase out the legal domestic manufacture and sale of ivory products in May 2015, and in September 2015, China and the United States said "they would enact a nearly complete ban on the import and export of ivory" due to causes of extinction. [106][107] Older bulls act as the leaders of these groups. Dominance depends on the age, size and sexual condition. For close extinct relatives, see, Asian elephant eating tree bark, using its tusks to peel it off, An Asian elephant feeding on grass in Sri Lanka, An African bush elephant using its prehensile trunk for foraging, An African forest elephant mother with her calf, Asian elephants greeting each other by inter-twining their trunks, Low frequency rumble visualised with acoustic camera, H. Saegusa, H. Nakaya, Y. Kunimatsu, M. Nakatsukasa, H. Tsujikawa, Y. Sawada, M. Saneyoshi, T. Sakai, International Union for Conservation of Nature, proportionally smaller than the human brain, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, traditionally captured with traps and lassos, The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960, List of elephants in mythology and religion, "Ivory and horn production in Mycenaean texts", "Afrotherian mammals: a review of current data", "Chromosome painting in the manatee supports Afrotheria and Paenungulata", "Genomic DNA Sequences from Mastodon and Woolly Mammoth Reveal Deep Speciation of Forest and Savanna Elephants", "Reconciling apparent conflicts between mitochondrial and nuclear phylogenies in African elephants", "A comprehensive genomic history of extinct and living elephants", "Paleocene emergence of elephant relatives and the rapid radiation of African ungulates", "Stable isotope evidence for an amphibious phase in early proboscidean evolution", "A proboscidean from the late Oligocene of Eritrea, a "missing link" between early Elephantiformes and Elephantimorpha, and biogeographic implications", "Revisiting proboscidean phylogeny and evolution through total evidence and palaeogenetic analyses including, "Paleoneurology of the Proboscidea (Mammalia, Afrotheria): Insights from Their Brain Endocast and Labyrinth", "The rise and fall of proboscidean ecological diversity", Earliest elephantid remains from the late Miocene locality, Nakali, Kenya, "The role of behaviour in adaptive morphological evolution of African proboscideans", "Sixty years after 'The mastodonts of Brazil': The state of the art of South American proboscideans (Proboscidea, Gomphotheriidae)", "Ecological Interactions of Elephantids in Pleistocene Eurasia", "Excess of genomic defects in a woolly mammoth on Wrangel island", "The smallest of the largest: new volumetric body mass estimate and in-vivo restoration of the dwarf elephant Palaeoloxodon ex gr. Its apex has two pointed ends, an unusual trait among mammals. By contrast, Japan and Hong Kong, which were also part of the industry, were able to adapt and were not as badly affected. Malay elephant populations have even smaller family units and do not reach levels above a bond group. By contrast, the lower jaw is dense. This organ is associated with sexual behaviour, and males secrete a fluid from it when in musth. After a year, a calf is fully capable of grooming, drinking, and feeding itself. [91] In Asian forests, large seeds require giant herbivores like elephants and rhinoceros for transport and dispersal. The female's mammary glands occupy the space between the front legs, which puts the suckling calf within reach of the female's trunk. Sleeping occurs at night while the animal is lying down. Throughout the country, 1,500 people were killed by elephants between 2019 and 2022, which led to 300 elephants being killed in kind. Submissive elephants will lower their heads and trunks, as well as flatten their ears against their necks, while those that are ready to fight will bend their ears in a V shape. [140] Elephants are among the species known to use tools. Other elephant heroes given human qualities include Jean de Brunhoff's Babar, David McKee's Elmer, and Dr. Seuss's Horton. The Amboseli elephant population is further divided into the "central" and "peripheral" subpopulations. [112] An oestrus cow uses pheromones in her urine and vaginal secretions to signal her readiness to mate. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, With little coordination in its trunk, it can only flop it around which may cause it to trip. [32], Elephants are the largest living terrestrial animals. [2] It is attested in Mycenaean Greek as e-re-pa (genitive e-re-pa-to) in Linear B syllabic script. They are herbivorous, and they stay near water when it is accessible. [46] Floppy trunk syndrome is a condition of trunk paralysis recorded in African bush elephants and involves the degeneration of the peripheral nerves and muscles. [96] Elephants tend to have high numbers of parasites, particularly nematodes, compared to many other mammals. It relies on touch, smell, and hearing, as its eyesight is less developed. but what is the largest elephant ever lived? The order was formerly much more diverse during the Pleistocene, but most species became extinct during the Late Pleistocene epoch. [171] In testimony to a US federal court in 2009, Barnum & Bailey Circus CEO Kenneth Feld acknowledged that circus elephants are struck behind their ears, under their chins and on their legs with metal-tipped prods, called bull hooks or ankus. [30] This versatile appendage contains up to 150,000 separate muscle fascicles, with no bone and little fat. [152] Ivory was banned internationally by CITES in 1990. The former are divided into dorsals, ventrals, and laterals while the latter are divided into transverse and radiating muscles. A group containing more than two cows and their offspring is known as a "joint family". Elephants can learn over 30 commands. They are valued over mechanised tools as they can perform the same tasks but in more difficult terrain, with strength, memory, and delicacy. Asian elephants are used to carry and pull both objects and people in and out of areas as well as lead people in religious celebrations. There are three subspecies of Asian elephant: the Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), the Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus), and the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus). [46] A unique proboscis nerve a combination of the maxillary and facial nerves lines each side of the appendage. One of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. Alexander the Great achieved victory over armies with war elephants by having his soldiers injure the trunks and legs of the animals which caused them to panic and become uncontrollable. The most famous circus elephant was probably Jumbo (1861 15 September 1885), who was a major attraction in the Barnum & Bailey Circus. An invasive species of large snail that can grow as large as a human fist and carries a parasite that can cause meningitis has been spotted in Florida's second-most-populous . Volodymyr Burdiak/Shutterstock.com. African savannah, Loxodonta africana African forest, Loxodonta cyclotis Asian, Elephas maximus There are actually two very different species of African elephants living on the African continent, both very different in their culture and appearance. [6] Elephants and sirenians are further grouped in the clade Tethytheria. Suckling bouts tend to last 24 min/hr for a calf younger than a year. A newborn calf weighs between 150 and 350 lbs. Class. Elephants readily show good manners to members within its herd and other herds, according to the San Diego Zoo. In contests between musth and non-musth individuals, musth bulls win the majority of the time, even when the non-musth bull is larger. Its sense of smell may be four times greater than a bloodhound's nose. [85] The size of adult elephants makes them nearly invulnerable to predators. Behaviours associated with musth include walking with a high and swinging head, nonsynchronous ear flapping, picking at the ground with the tusks, marking, rumbling, and urinating in the sheath. It is one of only three living species of elephants or elephantids anywhere in the world, the others being the African bush elephant and African forest elephant. Here are five facts about the biggest animal on land. The female's clitoris may be 40cm (16in). [189], In Western popular culture, elephants symbolise the exotic, especially since as with the giraffe, hippopotamus and rhinoceros there are no similar animals familiar to Western audiences. [88] In northern Botswana, they travel 325km (202mi) to the Chobe River after the local waterholes dry up in late August. Tusks function in digging, debarking, marking, moving objects and fighting. They use their trunks to pick up objects, trumpet warnings, greet other elephants, or suck up water for drinking or bathing, among other uses. This includes trumpeting, bellowing, roaring, growling, barking, snorting, and rumbling. One trunkless elephant has been observed to graze using its lips with its hind legs in the air and balancing on its front knees. They exhibit mirror self-recognition, an indication of self-awareness and cognition that has also been demonstrated in some apes and dolphins. Between 1977 and 1989, elephant populations declined by 74% in East Africa. However, forest elephants may in fact be a distinct species of elephant instead of a subspecies, according to Cornell University. Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia and are found in different habitats, including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. Top 10 Biggest Animals Animals take many shapes and forms and come in a great diversity of sizes, from microscopic to the 30 m long blue whale! She has multiple health, safety and lifesaving certifications from Oklahoma State University. Ralph Helfer is known to have relied on positive reinforcement when training his animals. Warm blood flows into the capillaries, freeing excess heat into the environment. [7], Three species of living elephants are recognised; the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Saltasaurus The species was first described in 1980, and it is considered small compared with other titanosaur species, measuring only 12.2 to 12.8 meters (about 40 to 42 feet) long and weighing slightly under 7 metric tons (about 7.7 tons). Some shortcomings of war elephants included their great visibility, which made them easy to target, and limited maneuverability compared to horses. Their closest extant relatives are the sirenians (dugongs and manatees) and the hyraxes, with which they share the clade Paenungulata within the superorder Afrotheria. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. They can expand their nostrils 30% around, leading to a 64% greater nasal volume, and can breathe in almost 30 times faster than a human sneeze, at over 150m/s (490ft/s). (Image credit: Mark Wright/University of Hawaii Mnoa), (Image credit: Chintan Mehta/Shutterstock), Elephant Images: The Biggest Beasts on Land, Best zombie movies: viruses, fungi, space radiation & voodoo magic, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: Everything we know about our favorite archeologist's latest adventure, Best VR mindfulness games 2023: Meditation, puzzles, & creativity, Best star projectors 2023: Bring the cosmos indoors. African elephant The average weight of an animal: 8500 kg Maximum weight of the animal: 13000 kg Average length of the animal's body: 6.66 meters Photo by paweldotio 2. Pavlos Orfanidis/Shutterstock.com. Elephants are incapable of turning their manus, as the ulna and radius of the front legs are secured in pronation. [2] Taxonomy A cladogram of the elephants within Afrotheria based on molecular evidence [5] Elephants belong to the family Elephantidae, the sole remaining family within the order Proboscidea. The skeleton is made up of 326351 bones. [105] Male elephants can be quite sociable when not competing for mates and form vast and fluid social networks. Agonistic encounters typically consist of threat displays, chases, and minor sparring. Male elephants will leave their herd around this time, as long as they're able to find their own food and protect themselves, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo. They grow to between 8.2 and 13 feet (2.5 and 4 meters) tall at the shoulder and weigh 5,000 to 14,000 lbs. [69][70] In addition, cracks in the skin may reduce dehydration and allow for increased thermal regulation in the long term. [154], Other threats to elephants include habitat destruction and fragmentation. The largest land mammal and biggest living animal on land is the African bush elephant (one of three African elephant species, along with the savanna elephant and the forest elephant), which can grow to 4.5 meters tall at the shoulder, six meters long, and weigh up .
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