elephant is the largest land animalelephant is the largest land animal

In the wild, African elephants can live up to 70 years, and Asian elephants up to 60 years. 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. [149] Historically, numerous cultures made ornaments and other works of art from elephant ivory, and its use was comparable to that of gold. [87] Elephants go on seasonal migrations in response to changes in environmental conditions. [90] Elephants can have a negative impact on ecosystems. Option (C) is also incorrect because the . [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. Three species of elephants (b) _____ living today. [98] Female elephants spend their entire lives in tight-knit matrilineal family groups. [98] In Sri Lanka, there appear to be stable family units or "herds" and larger, looser "groups". This strengthens the bones while still allowing haematopoiesis (blood cell creation). [37][41] The ossicles are adapted for hearing low frequencies, being most sensitive at 1 kHz. [174], Elephants can exhibit bouts of aggressive behaviour and engage in destructive actions against humans. [73] Elephants are capable swimmers: they can swim for up to six hours while staying at the surface, moving at 2.1km/h (1mph) and traversing up to 48km (30mi) continuously. [79] The blood vessels are thick and wide and can hold up during blood pressures. Elephants readily show good manners to members within its herd and other herds, according to the San Diego Zoo. [38] The skull contains air cavities (sinuses) that reduce the weight of the skull while maintaining overall strength. 1. [85] The size of adult elephants makes them nearly invulnerable to predators. 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. When moving, elephant mothers will touch their calves with their trunks or feet when side-by-side or with their tails if the calf is behind them. Alina Bradford is a contributing writer for Live Science. Hunting for elephant ivory in Africa[60] and Asia[61] has led to natural selection for shorter tusks[62][63] and tusklessness. [129], Elephants communicate in various ways. The dominant or "master" tusk, is typically more worn down, as it is shorter and blunter. [147] The IUCN estimated that total population in Africa is estimated at around to 415,000 individuals for both species combined as of 2016. [13][14], Over 180 extinct members of order Proboscidea have been described. They also possess tusks which are long extended teeth. Males (bulls) leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. The former are divided into dorsals, ventrals, and laterals while the latter are divided into transverse and radiating muscles. [47] Using three basic movements: bending, twisting, and longitudinal stretching/retracting, the trunk has near unlimited flexibility. [30] This versatile appendage contains up to 150,000 separate muscle fascicles, with no bone and little fat. [182] In Asia, the animals are depicted as motifs in Hindu and Buddhist shrines and temples. [142] As with chimpanzees and dolphins, a dying or dead elephant may elicit attention and aid from others, including those from other groups. They're considered an extremely intelligent species, and have been observed showing advanced problem-solving skills and demonstrating empathy, mourning and self-awareness, according to an article in Scientific American. Their herds wander through 37 countries in Africa. In 1989, the African elephant was listed under Appendix I by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), making trade illegal. [84] Females have also been observed with these secretions. [3] African bush elephant - heaviest land animal. At Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, elephants numbers have threatened several species of small birds that depend on woodlands. Hey there!If you love animals and want to stay up-to-date on some of the coolest animal videos and pictures, I would love for you to follow me on my social m. The nasal septum consists of small elastic muscles between the nostrils which are divided by cartilage at the base. This organ is associated with sexual behaviour, and males secrete a fluid from it when in musth. [34] Asian elephant trunks have better motor coordination. A durable nictitating membrane shields the globe. 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. They replace deciduous milk teeth at 612 months of age and keep growing at about 17cm (7in) a year. Their closest extant relatives are the sirenians (dugongs and manatees) and the hyraxes, with which they share the clade Paenungulata within the superorder Afrotheria. [175] In Africa, groups of adolescent elephants damaged homes in villages after cullings in the 1970s and 1980s. 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. Its apex has two pointed ends, an unusual trait among mammals. [160] In both Myanmar and Thailand, deforestation and other economic factors have resulted in sizable populations of unemployed elephants resulting in health problems for the elephants themselves as well as economic and safety problems for the people amongst whom they live. Student Number : 717.6.2.0874 Choose the best answer! [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. Unlike those of many mammals, such as cats and rats, elephant whiskers do not move independently ("whisk") to sense the environment; the trunk itself must move to bring the whiskers into contact with nearby objects. The Carthaginian general Hannibal famously took African elephants across the Alps during his war with the Romans and reached the Po Valley in 218 BC with all of them alive, but died of disease and combat a year later. 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. 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. The World Wildlife Fund has determined that DNA evidence suggests that the Borneo pygmy elephant is genetically different from other Asian elephants. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classifies the Asian elephant as endangered. [185], Elephants have been the subject of religious beliefs. "The largest animals in the fossil record are just under 100 tons [90 metric tons], which supports this . Malay elephant populations have even smaller family units and do not reach levels above a bond group. African elephants are further classified into two subspecies: the savanna elephant and the forest elephant. Both species eat all types of vegetation, including a variety of grasses, fruits, leaves, bark and roots. [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. Being living tissue, tusks are fairly soft; about as dense as the mineral calcite. [154], Other threats to elephants include habitat destruction and fragmentation. The African elephant is considered vulnerable, according to the IUCN, and the species' population is increasing. [Elephant Images: The Biggest Beasts on Land]. The matriarch relies on her experience and memory to recall where the best spots for food, water are, and where to find protection from the elements. 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. This effect is increased by flapping the ears back and forth. In the past, they were used in war; today, they are often controversially put on display in zoos, or exploited for entertainment in circuses. When comparing an elephant's vocal folds to those of a human, an elephant's are proportionally longer, thicker, with a greater cross-sectional area. 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. [114] Cows over 4550 years of age are less fertile. (2,268 to 6,350 kilograms), according to National Geographic. Elephants are typically grey, but African elephants look brown or reddish after rolling in coloured mud. [32], Elephants are the largest living terrestrial animals. Elephants are popularly thought of as having an excellent memory. [43] Elephants are considered to be dichromats[44] and they can see well in dim light but not in bright light. For the African elephants, tusks are present in both males and females, and are around the same length in both sexes, reaching up to 300cm (9ft 10in),[57] but those of males tend to be more massive. [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]. It is the second largest species of elephant after the African bush elephant. They are valued over mechanised tools as they can perform the same tasks but in more difficult terrain, with strength, memory, and delicacy. There are two main types of elephants: the African elephant and the Indian elephant. [148], African elephants receive at least some legal protection in every country where they are found. The trunk evolved and grew longer to provide reach. They exhibit mirror self-recognition, an indication of self-awareness and cognition that has also been demonstrated in some apes and dolphins. In the same way that humans tend to be right-handed or left-handed, elephants can be right-tusked or left-tusked. [22][29], Over the course of their evolution, probobscideans grew larger in size. [102] When her tenure is over, the matriarch's eldest daughter takes her place instead of her sister (if present). 4. [161][162], The practice of working elephants has also been attempted in Africa. 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. It still needs its mother's milk and protection until it is at least two years old. 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). The female's clitoris may be 40cm (16in). Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate. The vocal folds are anchored close to the epiglottis base. They have a hindgut fermentation system, and their large and small intestines together reach 35m (115ft) in length. [83] The penis can be as long as 100cm (39in) with a 16cm (6in) wide base. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. [89], Because of their large size, elephants have a huge impact on their environments and are considered keystone species. Many stories tell of isolated young elephants returning to or finding a family, such as "The Elephant's Child" from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, Disney's Dumbo, and Kathryn and Byron Jackson's The Saggy Baggy Elephant. [183] Similar ideas existed among other African societies, who believed that their chiefs would be reincarnated as elephants. Elephants are homeotherms, and maintain their average body temperature at ~ 36C (97F), with minimum 35.2C (95.4F) during cool season, and maximum 38.0C (100.4F) during hot dry season. Successful conservation efforts in certain areas have led to high population densities while failures have lead to declines as high as 70% or more of the course of ten years. The word "elephant" is based on the Latin elephas (genitive elephantis) ("elephant"), which is the Latinised form of the Greek (elephas) (genitive (elephantos[1]), probably from a non-Indo-European language, likely Phoenician. Controlling 1.25 million acres, the Irving family is the largest private landowner in Maine. [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. African elephants ( Loxodonta) are a genus comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant ( L. africana) and the smaller African forest elephant ( L. cyclotis ). 209231cm (6ft 10in 7ft 7in) (shoulder height), 1.72.3t (1.92.5 short tons) (weight). 1. Females of the same species grow up to nine feet in height and weigh four tons. It is one of two living species of elephants, the other being the Asian elephant. They are usually bluffing when performing these actions. Following the bans, unemployment rose in India and China, where the ivory industry was important economically. [123] The relatively long pregnancy is supported by several corpus luteums and gives the foetus more time to develop, particularly the brain and trunk. There are several subspecies that belong to one or the other of these two main species, though experts argue over how many subspecies there are and whether or not they constitute separate species, according to the San Diego Zoo. [91] In Asian forests, large seeds require giant herbivores like elephants and rhinoceros for transport and dispersal. Groups of African forest elephants typically consist of one cow with one to three offspring. One of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. The ears of African elephant are larger and resemble the shape of the African continent, while Asian elephants have smaller, rounder ears, according to the San Diego Zoo. [133][132] Elephants can produce infrasonic rumbles. In contests between musth and non-musth individuals, musth bulls win the majority of the time, even when the non-musth bull is larger. [53] The infraorbital nerve, which makes the trunk sensitive to touch, is thicker than both the optic and auditory nerves. Appendix II status (which allows restricted trade) was given to elephants in Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe in 1997 and South Africa in 2000. [126], Play behaviour in calves differs between the sexes; females run or chase each other while males play-fight. [72][76] In walking, the legs act as pendulums, with the hips and shoulders moving up and down while the foot is planted on the ground. [46], The trunk's extreme flexibility allows it to forage and wrestle other elephants with it. J.D. It relies on touch, smell, and hearing, as its eyesight is less developed. [19], A major event in proboscidean evolution was the collision of Afro-Arabia with Eurasia, during the Early Miocene, around 18-19 million years ago allowing proboscideans to disperse from their African homeland across Eurasia, and later, around 16-15 million years ago into North America across the Bering Land Bridge. The African bush elephant is considered one of Africa's "Big Five" animals with which the continent is associated. 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. At midday, elephants rest under trees and may doze off while standing. [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). [7] The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1974. [175] [101], Bulls engage in a behaviour known as mate-guarding, where they follow oestrous females and defend them from other males. Less effective tactics include beehive and electric fences. [45], Scientists debate the extent to which elephants feel emotion. A calf will press against its mother's front legs to signal it wants to rest and will touch her breast or leg when it wants to suckle. [153] This has been called "one of the worst concentrated killings" since the ivory ban. Asian elephant The average weight of an animal: 4200 kg Maximum weight of the animal: 5200 kg The average length of the animal's body: 5.94 meters Report Photo by Keith Markilie The African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana ), also known as the African savanna elephant, is one of two extant African elephant species and one of three extant elephant species. African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. This ecological niche cannot be filled by the smaller Malayan tapir. [56], The tusks of an elephant are modified second incisors in the upper jaw. [35] They can eat as much as 300kg (660lb) of food and drink 40L (11USgal) of water in a day. [99], Female Asian elephants tend to have more fluid social associations. Seismic waveforms produced by rumbles travel 16km (10mi). [120] Before mounting, it curves forward and upward. The largest land mammal "The Elephant". Visit our corporate site. [106][107] Older bulls act as the leaders of these groups. Their habit of uprooting trees and undergrowth can transform savannah into grasslands;[90] smaller herbivores can access trees mowed down by elephants. An individual foot stomping or mock charging can create seismic signals that can be heard at travel distances of up to 32km (20mi). African bush elephants in particular have a complex, stratified social structure. The animal's field of vision is compromised by the location and limited mobility of the eyes. Around 60% of the population is in India. Class. As elephants mature, their hair darkens and becomes sparser, but dense concentrations of hair and bristles remain on the tip of the tail and parts of the head and genitals. (2,268 to 6,350 kilograms), according to National Geographic. The most famous circus elephant was probably Jumbo (1861 15 September 1885), who was a major attraction in the Barnum & Bailey Circus. The African elephant is found on the continent of Africa and the Indian elephant is found in Asia. In circuses, they are trained to perform tricks. Unlike most mammals, teeth are not replaced by new ones emerging from the jaws vertically. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. [137][138], Elephants are among the most intelligent animals. [134] For Asian elephants, these calls have a frequency of 1424Hz, with sound pressure levels of 8590dB and last 1015 seconds. 10. From 2000 to 2004, 300 people died in Jharkhand, and in Assam, 239 people were reportedly killed between 2001 and 2006. P. falconeri from Spinagallo Cave (Sicily)", "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans", "Elephant Anatomy and Biology: Skeletal system", "Savanna elephants maintain homeothermy under African heat", "Elephant Anatomy and Biology: Special sense organs", "Elephants and human color-blind deuteranopes have identical sets of visual pigments", "Elephant cognition in primate perspective", "Why doesn't the elephant have a pleural space? Elephants have difficulty releasing heat through the skin because of their low surface-area-to-volume ratio, which is many times smaller than that of a human. [25], Over the course of the Early Pleistocene, all non-elephantid probobscidean genera outside of the Americas became extinct with the exception of Stegodon[22], with gomphotheres dispersing into South America as part of the Great American interchange,[26] and mammoths migrating into North America around 1.5 million years ago. Though it is not known exactly how many Asian elephants remain, experts believe that the population is decreasing. [39] Because of the size of the head, the neck is relatively short to provide better support. Males are between ten and eleven feet tall and weigh between 5.7 and 7.6 tons. [74] The circular feet of an elephant have soft tissues or "cushion pads" beneath the manus or pes, which allow them to bear the animal's great mass. The Mbuti people of central Africa believe that the souls of their dead ancestors resided in elephants. 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. African elephants are the larger of the two species. Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Proponents of zoos argue that they allow easy access to the animals and provide fund and knowledge for preserving their natural habitats, as well as safekeeping for the species. [164], Their heads and sides were equipped with armour, the trunk may have had a sword tied to it and tusks were sometimes covered sharpened iron or brass. Female Asians have very small tusks, or none at all. Maine land trusts and landowners collaborate to protect and manage properties, ensuring the preservation of productive farmlands for future generations. The leader of a female group, usually the oldest cow, is known as the matriarch. In some countries, sport hunting of the animals is legal; Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have CITES export quotas for elephant trophies. The answer is yes. 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. Of all the elephants, African bush elephants live in the hottest climates, and have the largest ear flaps.