The elephant is the largest land animal of the class mammals, such as chordates, the proboscis order, the elephant family (Elephantidae).
Elephant - description, characteristics and photo
Elephants are giants among animals. The height of the elephant is 2 - 4 m. The weight of the elephant is from 3 to 7 tons. Elephants in Africa, especially savannas, often weigh up to 10-12 tons. The powerful body of an elephant is covered with thick (up to 2.5 cm) brown or gray skin with deep wrinkles. Elephant cubs are born with sparse bristles, adults are practically devoid of vegetation.
The head of the animal is quite large with ears of noteworthy size. Elephant ears have a fairly large surface, they are thick at the base with thin edges, as a rule, they are a good regulator of heat exchange. Fanning the ears allows the animal to increase the cooling effect. An elephant's foot has 2 kneecaps.
This structure makes the elephant the only mammal that cannot jump. In the center of the foot is a fat cushion that springs up with every step, which allows these powerful animals to move almost silently.
The elephant's trunk is an amazing and unique organ formed by a fused nose and upper lip. Tendons and over 100,000 muscles make him strong and flexible. The trunk performs a number of important functions, at the same time providing the animal with breathing, smelling, touching and grabbing food. Through the trunk, elephants protect themselves, water themselves, eat, communicate and even raise their offspring. Another "attribute" of appearance is the tusks of an elephant. They grow throughout life: the more powerful the tusks, the older their owner.
The tail of an elephant is about the same length as the hind legs. The tip of the tail is framed by coarse hair that helps to repel insects. The voice of an elephant is specific. The sounds that an adult animal makes are called boars, lowing, whispering and roaring of an elephant. The life expectancy of an elephant is approximately 70 years.
Elephants can swim very well and love water procedures, and their average speed movement on land reaches 3-6 km / h.
When running for short distances, the speed of an elephant sometimes increases to 50 km / h.
Elephant species
In the family of living elephants, there are three main species belonging to two genera:
- genus African elephants(Loxodonta) are divided into 2 types:
- bush elephant(Loxodonta africana)
differs in gigantic size, dark color, developed tusks and two processes at the end of the trunk. It lives along the equator throughout Africa;
African Elephant (Savanna Elephant)
- forest elephant(Loxodonta cyclotis)
has a small stature (up to 2.5 m at the withers) and rounded ears. This type of elephant is common in tropical African forests.
Species often interbreed and produce quite viable offspring.
- Genus indian(Asian) elephants ( Elephas) includes one species - Indian elephant ( Elephas maximus)
It is smaller than the Savannah but has a more powerful build and short legs. Color - from brown to dark gray. A distinctive feature of this species of elephants is small quadrangular auricles and one process at the end of the trunk. The Indian or Asian elephant is common in the tropical and subtropical forests of India, China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Indian elephant
Where and how do elephants live?
African elephants live almost throughout hot Africa: in Namibia and Senegal, in Kenya and Zimbabwe, in Guinea and the Republic of the Congo, in Sudan and South Africa, elephants in Zambia and Somalia feel great. The main part of the livestock, unfortunately, is forced to live in national reserves so as not to become the prey of barbarian poachers. The elephant lives on any terrain, but tries to avoid the desert zone and too dense rainforest, preferring the savannah zone.
Indian elephants live in the northeast and south of India, in Thailand, China and on the island of Sri Lanka, they live in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia. Unlike their counterparts from the African continent, Indian elephants like to settle in wooded areas, preferring bamboo thickets of the tropics and dense shrubs.
For about 16 hours a day, elephants are busy absorbing food, while eating about 300 kg of vegetation with appetite. The elephant eats grass (including cattail, papyrus in Africa), rhizomes, bark and leaves of trees (such as ficus in India), the fruits of wild bananas, apples, marula and even coffee. The diet of an elephant depends on the habitat, as different trees and grasses grow in Africa and India. These animals do not bypass agricultural plantations, causing significant damage to crops of corn, sweet potato and other crops with their visits. Their tusks and trunk help them get food, and their molars help them chew. Elephant teeth change as they grind down.
In the zoo, elephants are fed hay and greens (in large quantities), and they also give animals vegetables, fruits, root crops: cabbage, apples, pears, carrots, beets, watermelons, boiled potatoes, oats, bran, willow branches, bread, as well as a favorite elephants treat bananas and other crops. Per day in wild nature an elephant eats about 250-300 kg of food. In captivity, elephant food intake is as follows: about 10 kg of vegetables, 30 kg of hay and 10 kg of bread.
Adult individuals are well-known "water drinkers". An elephant drinks about 100-300 liters of water per day, so these animals are almost always near water bodies.
elephant breeding
Elephants form family herds (9-12 individuals), including a mature leader, her sisters, daughters and immature males. The female elephant is a hierarchical link in the family, she matures by the age of 12, at 16 she is ready to bear offspring. Sexually mature males leave the herd at the age of 15-20 years (African at 25) and become solitary. Every year, males fall into an aggressive state caused by an increase in testosterone, lasting about 2 months, so quite serious clashes between clans are not uncommon, ending in injuries and mutilations. True, this fact has its plus: competition with experienced counterparts stops young male elephants from mating early.
Elephant breeding occurs regardless of the season. The male elephant approaches the herd when he feels the female is ready to mate. Loyal among themselves in normal times, the males arrange mating fights, as a result of which the winner is admitted to the female. An elephant's pregnancy lasts 20-22 months. The birth of an elephant takes place in a society that is created by the females of the herd, surrounding and protecting the woman in labor from accidental danger.
Usually one baby elephant weighing about a centner is born, sometimes there are twins. After 2 hours, the newborn baby elephant stands up and sucks mother's milk with pleasure. After a few days, the cub easily travels with its relatives, grabbing the mother's tail with its trunk. Milk feeding lasts up to 1.5-2 years, and all lactating females participate in the process. By 6-7 months, vegetable food is added to milk.
Why are elephants afraid of mice?
Many people know about the subconscious fear that giant elephants allegedly have for small representatives of the rodent family - mice. But not everyone knows that this fact is, most likely, a myth. There is a legend according to which in ancient times there were so many mice that they dared to attack the elephant's legs, gnawed the limbs of animals almost to the bone and equipped minks there. That is why since then elephants began to sleep not lying down, but standing up. There is little logic in this, because many animals sleep standing up, for example, horses, which are not at all afraid of mice. But to assume that a rodent can climb into the trunk of a lying elephant and block the access of air to it, which would lead to the death of an elephant - much more likely, especially since several such cases have been recorded.
There is another theory, a little funny, but still: mice, climbing an elephant, strongly tickle the giant with their tenacious paws, from which the elephant feels a constant need to itch, and it is quite difficult for him to do this. However, all such assumptions were debunked by scientists: they were convinced that elephants are absolutely indifferent to mice, peacefully coexist with them in zoo enclosures, allowing tiny rodents to feast on the remnants of their meal, and are not at all afraid of them.
Why does an elephant have a long nose?
Trunk - the most spectacular distinguishing feature elephant. Reaching a length of about 1.5 meters and having a weight of 130-150 kg, this part of the body is simply necessary for an animal, just like a person’s hands, nose or tongue.
The ancestors of elephants, who lived in the distant past in the swamps, had a very small proboscis, which allowed them to breathe under the water.
Millions of years of evolution forced the ancient predecessor of the elephant to leave the swampy area, enormously increased the animal in size, as a result of which the elephant's trunk also had to adapt to new conditions of existence.
With its trunk, the elephant lifts and carries weights, plucks juicy bananas from palm trees and puts them in his mouth, as if with a load of water from a lake or river and arranges a shower for himself during the scorching heat, makes loud trumpeting sounds, catches smells, helps himself to drink, pouring water into mouth.
Surprisingly, to be able to use the trunk as a multifunctional tool is a rather complicated science that little elephants do not master right away: often babies even step on their trunk, so caring mother elephants patiently, for several months, teach their children the art of using this necessary “process” .
- Among the elephants there are right-handers and left-handers, which affects the greater use of one of the tusks.
- The special structure of the hearing aid allows elephants to communicate with each other at low frequencies, covering vast distances.
- An elephant is an animal that does not sweat because it lacks sebaceous glands. Water treatments, mud baths and ear fanning help to lower body temperature.
- Elephants are easily tamed and trainable. In ancient times, they were an excellent work force and fighting animals. Today, elephants are used as a means of transportation in impassable places.
- Adult elephants are practically invulnerable, lions and crocodiles are a danger to small elephants. The only enemy of elephants is a man who ruthlessly exterminates animals for meat, skin and bones. Barbaric fishing led to a sharp reduction in the population of elephants, the impossibility of seasonal migrations and limited the habitat to nature reserves and national parks.
- Domesticated elephants are quite good-natured and patient with the mistreatment of negligent owners. The tendency to emotional experiences and prolonged stress can lead to a nervous breakdown, when the elephant goes berserk and destroys everything in its reach.
- Elephants are among the most intelligent mammals on the planet. Excellent memory allows them to remember the wrongs caused by people and the places of important events. Emotional animals are able to rejoice, be sad, suffer and empathize with their loved ones.
It's easy to guess that African elephant lives in Africa almost all over the mainland. This is the largest land animal, reaching a weight of more than 3 tons. The African elephant is quite tall - 4 meters. This type of elephant has rather large and pronounced tusks. In males, the tusks are large - up to three meters, in females they do not reach even a meter. The trunk of elephants is formed by the fusion of the upper lip and nose. Elephants are herbivorous mammals, prefer grasses, leaves, branches as food. Elephants live in families of several individuals (the number of individuals is approximately 10-15 in each group). Elephants are very friendly to each other, peace reigns in their family. Adult elephants carefully protect young elephants, and when a cub is born, the whole family seems to rejoice. The female bears the cub for a long time - almost two years. Usually one baby elephant is born. After birth, the cub feeds on mother's milk for 2 years and only after five years lives on its own. Elephant lifespan: 50-60 years.
Indian elephant
Habitat: India, southeast Asia. It is slightly smaller than the African elephant. Compared to the African elephant, the Indian elephant has small ears and less pronounced tusks. Some females have no tusks at all. The elephant also feeds on grass, various fruits. By the way, all elephants eat with the help of a trunk: they take food with a trunk and put it in their mouths. They also drink with their trunks. The Indian elephant is more friendly towards people, so they are caught for circuses and zoos more often than African elephants. Now the population of Indian elephants has declined sharply.
Read also on Vovet.ru:
- Animals of Australia. What animals live in Australia?
- Jungle animals of Brazil. What animals live in the jungles of Brazil?
In contact with
Classmates
How many types of elephants are there in the world?
African forest elephant
To date, only two species have survived in the elephant family (Familia Elephantidae Cray): Indian elephants, which are found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and also on the Indochina peninsula, and African elephants, which zoologists divide into savannahs (savannah elephants) and living in tropical forests (forest elephants).
African and Indian elephants differ in body structure
and temper.
These differences are quite large, and when crossing elephants of two different types no offspring.
The African elephant is taller than the Indian elephant, its ears are larger, its skin is rougher, the trunk is thinner, the tusks that both males and females have are more developed; the weight of males reaches 5 - 7.5 tons, females - 3 - 4 tons.
Indian male elephants weigh 4.5 - 5 tons, females - 3 - 4 tons; tusks in females, as a rule, do not happen.
Both African and Indian elephants live in herds.
The basis of the herd is a family group of two to five, sometimes more elephants related by kinship (most often it is an old female elephant and her offspring of different generations).
sense organs and parts of the body
Nutrition and lifestyle »
Origin of modern elephants
As you know, both species of elephants are descendants of Proboscidea - an ancient animal with a trunk. The elephants that live today are descended from two different, parallel ancestral branches. Both of them were developed when dinosaurs dominated the earth. It was then that Moeritheres, animals similar to tapirs, appeared on the territory of modern Egypt.
This happened in the Paleocene epoch (65 million years ago).
How many types of elephants live on earth?
The structure of the skull and the arrangement of the teeth of these proboscideans was almost the same as that of the modern elephant, and four teeth were the forerunners of modern tusks. Another branch was represented by Deinotheriidae, an animal that lived in Africa and Eurasia.
Being in favorable conditions of detention, all these animals in the next twenty-six million years spread throughout Africa and Eurasia, and over time, across North and South America. Different climatic conditions and habitats have led to the emergence of different types of proboscis.
They lived everywhere - from the polar glacier to the desert, including the tundra, and the taiga, and forests, as well as the savannah and swamps. All species, and there were more than three hundred of them, can be divided into four main classes.
Deinotherium lived in the Eocene era (58 million years ago) and strongly resembled modern elephants. They were much smaller, had a shorter trunk, and two large tusks were twisted down and back. This class became extinct 2.5 million years ago.
Gomphotheres lived in the Oligocene era (37 million years ago).
They had the body of an elephant but a vestigial trunk. The teeth are similar to those of modern elephants, but there were also four small tusks, two of which were twisted up and two down. Some had broad, flat jaws that enabled them to scoop up marsh vegetation. In others, the jaws were much smaller, but the tusks were more developed. This species became extinct about 10,000 years ago.
From Gomphotherium in the Miocene-Pleistocene era (10-12 million years ago), mamutids (Mammutidae), often called mastodons, originated.
These animals were almost the same as elephants, but had a more powerful body, long tusks and a long trunk. They also differed in the arrangement of their teeth. The eyes of mastodons were much smaller, and the body had a dense hairline.
It is assumed that mastodons lived in the forests until primitive people came to the continent (approximately 18,000 years ago).
Elephants (Elephantidae) descended from mastodons during the Pleistocene era (1.6 million years ago) and gave rise to the Mammuthus family, the closest to the family of prehistoric elephants - huge woolly mammoths and two lineages of modern elephants: Elephas and Loxodonta. Mammuthus imperator, which lived in the southern part North America, was the largest mammoth: 4.5 meters (15 ft) at the withers.
The northern woolly mammoth, Mammus primigehius, lived in northern North America and Eurasia. Its numbers were enormous.
This species is the most studied, as several whole frozen specimens have been found, which are still stored in this form.
Woolly-coated mammoths were little more than modern elephants and protected themselves from the cold with long, dense, reddish wool and a 76 millimeters (3 in) thick subcutaneous fat layer.
Their long tusks were twisted down, forward and inward and served to tear the snow that covered the vegetation. The African and Indian elephant is all that remains today of their many ancestors.
Information sent by: Malyakina Z. E. MGAVMiB im. K. I. Scriabin.
Elephant species
Of these two varieties, African elephants are in turn divided into two species (savannah and forest), while the Asian elephant is divided into four species (Sri Lankan, Indian, Sumartan and Borneo).
Elephants, like people, are able to change, and change depending on the nature, emotions and personal qualities (individual characteristics). Asian elephants have been very important to Asian culture for thousands of years - they have been domesticated and are now used as vehicle in difficult terrain, for carrying heavy objects such as logs, as well as at festivals and in the circus.
Currently, the Indian elephant is the largest, with longer front legs and a thinner body than its Thai counterparts. We will focus on Thai Elephants in more detail, although of course these characteristics apply to all types of Asian Elephant. Let's pay attention to some small details. Using our own experience and taking into account information from numerous other sources, we will tell you our own interpretation.
Asian elephants
Approximately half of them are domesticated, the rest live in the wild in National parks and reserves. About 300 suffer in the terrible conditions of Bangkok. In the early 20th century (1900 AD), over 100,000 elephants are known to have lived in the Siamese (Thai) countryside. Asian elephants are smaller than African ones.
How many types of elephants are there in the world?
They have smaller ears and only males have tusks.
The first species is the Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus). They live on the island of Sri Lanka. A large male can reach 5,400 kg (12,000 lb) and be over 3.4 m (11 ft) tall. Sri Lankan males have very prominent skulls.
Their head, trunk and belly are usually bright pink.
Another species, the Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) makes up the majority of the Asian elephant population. There are about 36,000 of them, they are light gray, with depigmentation only on the ears and trunk. A large male averages only 5,000 kg (11,000 pounds), but they are nonetheless as tall as Sri Lankans.
Indian elephants are found in eleven Asian countries, from India to Indonesia. They prefer forests and areas between forests and fields where they have access to more variety food.
The smallest group of elephants are Sumartan elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus). There are only 2100 - 3000 individuals. They are very light gray in color with pink only on the ears. A mature Sumartan elephant is only 1.7–2.6 m (5.6–8.5 ft) tall and weighs less than 3,000 kg (6,600 lb).
Although it is, of course, a huge animal anyway, the Sumartan elephant is much smaller than any other Asian (and African) and exists only on the island of Sumatra, usually in forests and groves.
In 2003, another species of elephant was discovered on the island of Borneo. Called the Borneo Dwarf Elephants, they are smaller and calmer, more docile than other Asian elephants.
They have relatively large ears, a longer tail, and straighter fangs.
African elephants
Elephants of the genus Loxodonta, known as African elephants, currently live in 37 countries in Africa. The African elephant is the largest living land animal. It is characterized by a massive heavy body, a large head on a short neck, thick limbs, huge ears and a long muscular trunk.
The most striking difference from Asian ones is the ears. Africans have them much larger and shaped like the continent of their origin.
Both male and female African elephants have tusks and are generally less hairy than their Asian counterparts. Tusks grow throughout the life of an elephant and serve as an indicator of its age. Historically, African elephants have been observed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. At present, the area of distribution of elephants has been greatly reduced. The African elephant is completely extinct in Burundi, the Gambia and Mauritania, certain types survived to the north, in Mali. Despite the vast area of distribution, elephants are mainly concentrated in national parks and reserves.
Traditionally, there are two types of African elephants, namely the Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana africana) and the Forest Elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis).
The African bush elephant is the largest of all elephants. In fact, it is the largest animal on Earth in the world, reaching 4 m (13 ft) in height and weighing approximately 7,000 kg (7.7 tons).
The average male is about 3 m (10 ft) tall and 5500-6000 kg (6.1-6.6 tons) in weight, the female is much smaller. Most often, Savanna elephants are found in open fields, in swamps, and on the shores of lakes.
They mainly live in the savannah and migrate south from the Sahara desert.
Compared to the Savannah, the ears of the African Forest Elephant are usually smaller and more rounded, the tusks are thinner and straighter. The forest elephant weighs up to 4,500 kg (10,000 lb) and reaches a height of 3 m (10 ft). Much less is known about these animals than about their savanna counterparts - emerging political differences and habitat conditions of African forest elephants hinder their study.
Usually, they inhabit the impenetrable tropical forests of central and western Africa. The largest populations of Forest Elephants are currently found in South and East Africa.
There are two varieties of elephant - African elephant (genus: Loxodonta) and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). They are different, but there are still some striking differences. There are approximately 500,000 African elephants, while the number of Asian elephants is drastically reduced to less than 30,000.
Of these two varieties, African elephants are in turn divided into two species (savannah and forest), while the Asian elephant is divided into four species (Sri Lankan, Indian, Sumartan and Borneo). Elephants, like people, are able to change, and change depending on the nature, emotions and personal qualities (individual characteristics).
Asian elephants have been very important to Asian culture for thousands of years - they have been tamed and are now used as a vehicle in difficult terrain, to carry heavy objects such as logs, and in festivals and circuses. Currently, the Indian elephant is the largest, with longer front legs and a thinner body than its Thai counterparts. We will focus on Thai Elephants in more detail, although of course these characteristics apply to all types of Asian Elephant.
Let's pay attention to some small details. Using our own experience and taking into account information from numerous other sources, we will tell you our own interpretation.
Asian elephants
They are officially considered an endangered species, in Thailand their number reaches only 3000-4000.
Approximately half of them are domesticated, the rest live in the wild in National parks and reserves. About 300 suffer in the terrible conditions of Bangkok. In the early 20th century (1900 AD), over 100,000 elephants are known to have lived in the Siamese (Thai) countryside.
Asian elephants are smaller than African ones. They have smaller ears and only males have tusks.
The first species is the Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus). They live on the island of Sri Lanka. A large male can reach 5,400 kg (12,000 lb) and be over 3.4 m (11 ft) tall.
Sri Lankan males have very prominent skulls. Their head, trunk and belly are usually bright pink.
Another species, the Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) makes up the majority of the Asian elephant population.
There are about 36,000 of them, they are light gray, with depigmentation only on the ears and trunk. A large male averages only 5,000 kg (11,000 pounds), but they are nonetheless as tall as Sri Lankans. Indian elephants are found in eleven Asian countries, from India to Indonesia.
They prefer forests and areas between forests and fields where a greater variety of food is available to them.
The smallest group of elephants are Sumartan elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus).
There are only 2100 - 3000 individuals.
Elephant - description, species where it lives
They are very light gray in color with pink only on the ears. A mature Sumartan elephant is only 1.7–2.6 m (5.6–8.5 ft) tall and weighs less than 3,000 kg (6,600 lb). Although it is, of course, a huge animal anyway, the Sumartan elephant is much smaller than any other Asian (and African) and exists only on the island of Sumatra, usually in forests and groves.
In 2003, another species of elephant was discovered on the island of Borneo.
Called the Borneo Dwarf Elephants, they are smaller and calmer, more docile than other Asian elephants. They have relatively large ears, a longer tail, and straighter fangs.
African elephants
Elephants of the genus Loxodonta, known as African elephants, currently live in 37 countries in Africa.
The African elephant is the largest living land animal. It is characterized by a massive heavy body, a large head on a short neck, thick limbs, huge ears and a long muscular trunk.
The most striking difference from Asian ones is the ears. Africans have them much larger and shaped like the continent of their origin. Both male and female African elephants have tusks and are generally less hairy than their Asian counterparts. Tusks grow throughout the life of an elephant and serve as an indicator of its age.
Historically, African elephants have been observed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. At present, the area of distribution of elephants has been greatly reduced. The African elephant is completely extinct in Burundi, the Gambia and Mauritania, some species have survived to the north, in Mali. Despite the vast area of distribution, elephants are mainly concentrated in national parks and reserves. Traditionally, there are two types of African elephants, namely the Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana africana) and the Forest Elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis).
The African bush elephant is the largest of all elephants. In fact, it is the largest animal on Earth in the world, reaching 4 m (13 ft) in height and weighing approximately 7,000 kg (7.7 tons). The average male is about 3 m (10 ft) tall and 5500-6000 kg (6.1-6.6 tons) in weight, the female is much smaller. Most often, Savanna elephants are found in open fields, in swamps, and on the shores of lakes. They mainly live in the savannah and migrate south from the Sahara desert.
Compared to the Savannah, the ears of the African Forest Elephant are usually smaller and more rounded, the tusks are thinner and straighter.
The forest elephant weighs up to 4,500 kg (10,000 lb) and reaches a height of 3 m (10 ft). Much less is known about these animals than about their savanna counterparts - emerging political differences and habitat conditions of African forest elephants hinder their study. Usually, they inhabit the impenetrable tropical forests of central and western Africa.
The largest populations of Forest Elephants are currently found in South and East Africa.
. African elephant
. Indian elephant
. The fate of elephants in Africa
. About Indian Elephants
. Indian working elephants
. African bush elephant
. Who is an Indian Elephant?
. What is an African Elephant?
. Origin of modern elephants
. Andrey Kornilov and circus elephants
. Did hunting for a mammoth or warming affect the disappearance of an animal?
. forest elephant
. The smallest elephant
Body: The color varies from brown to dark gray, the hair of elephants is long, rough, sparsely covering the body. Elephants have thick skin that protects them from the cold.
Elephant - a brief description, the breeding process, interesting facts (89 photos + video)
Also, the elephant has four thick legs to support their huge weight.
Vision: Elephants are rather myopic, able to see clearly only at very close distances, up to about 10 meters.
Hearing: Excellent hearing by human standards. Large ears act as amplifiers and warn of possible dangers.
Smell: A well-developed sense of smell surpasses that of any other mammal on Earth.
Touch: An amazing sense of balance is the result of an excellent sense of touch.
The elephant's trunk, an incredibly versatile organ, plays a big role in this ability. A more detailed description of the elephant's trunk can be found on this page.
Taste: As with all highly developed animals, it is sufficient, and the elephant can easily distinguish between good, bad and favorite food.
Teeth and tusks: Male Asian African elephants have large tusks - up to 1.5 - 1.8 m in length, while females do not have tusks at all.
African elephants have long tusks in both sexes. Newborn elephants have tusks only 2 inches long. And only when they reach the age of two, the tusks begin to grow. In fact, the tusks are the teeth of elephants. The only creature that also has tusks is the walrus. Elephants need tusks to dig the ground in search of food, to remove garbage, to fight and to carry loads weighing up to 1 ton, such as timber.
The molars (chewing teeth) are at least 30 cm (1 ft) long and weigh approximately 4 kg (8.8 lbs). Elephants have only four of these teeth. When new molars are formed, they completely replace the old ones. During his life, an elephant usually replaces molars six times, the latter grow by about 40 years. When, around the age of 70, they also break down, it becomes difficult for the elephant to eat, and subsequently, many of the elephants die of starvation.
Tusks never stop growing.
Legs: The elephant's legs are large, straight pillars, as they must support all of its enormous weight.
Therefore, the elephant does not need developed muscles to stand, since it has straight legs and soft pads on the feet. Thus, the elephant can be on its feet for a very long time without getting tired. In fact, African elephants rarely lie down unless they are tired or sick.
Indian elephants, on the other hand, lie down frequently.
Elephant feet are almost round in shape. At African elephant on the hind limbs, three claws and four on the front. The Indians have four in the back and five in the front.
The peculiar device of the soles (a special springy mass located under the skin) makes the gait of elephants almost silent.
Under the weight of the elephant, the bulges of the sole increase, and when the weight is reduced, they also deflate. Thanks to this, the elephant can dive deep into the mud and move through the swampy terrain: when the animal pulls its foot out of the bog, the sole takes the form of a cone narrowed downwards; when he steps, the sole flattens out under the weight of the body, increasing the area of \u200b\u200bsupport.
Elephants are good swimmers, but they cannot walk fast, jump, or gallop.
They can walk only in two ways: normal walking, and faster, similar to running. When walking, the legs act like pendulums, the hips and shoulders rise and fall while the feet remain on the ground. Thus, elephants always have at least one foot on the ground.
When walking fast, an elephant has three feet on the ground at the same time. When walking at a normal pace, an elephant's speed is approximately 3 to 6 km/h (2 to 4 mph), but can reach a maximum of 40 km/h (24 mph).
. Elephant Features
. general characteristics elephants
. elephant anatomy
. Why does an elephant need a trunk and tusks?
. Sensitive Organs
. elephant body
. The reproductive system of a female elephant
. Reproductive system of males
. Elephant digestive system
. How many fingers does an elephant have?
. Elephant mating
. elephant legs
Elephants are the largest land animals. These amazing animals have a powerful trunk with which they do almost everything. Here are some interesting facts about elephants.
So, the most interesting facts about elephants:
- Like dolphins, elephants can easily communicate with each other using low-frequency signals and noises that the human ear cannot recognize.
- An elephant's heart can weigh up to 30 kg, but because it's so big, it only beats about 30 times per minute.
- September 22 is the official day for the protection of elephants.
- As a rule, elephants live no more than 70 years, although among them there are centenarians.
- Elephants carry their young for 22 months, which is the longest gestation of any land creature.
- Elephants cannot jump or run fast, but they are excellent swimmers and feel good in the water.
- The largest elephant in history is an elephant named Jumbo, who was born in 1861 and died after a collision with a train. At the time of his death, he was 24 years old, and he was 4 meters in height.
- In total, there are 2 types of elephants - Asian and African. Although, of course, each species has several more subspecies (African bush elephant or, for example, Asian bush elephant, etc.)
- As a rule, herds of elephants consist mainly of relatives and can number hundreds, and sometimes thousands of individuals.
- Elephants are highly developed and intelligent animals. They tend to help each other in any situation, take care when someone gets sick. They also tend to rejoice and generally experience emotions, and even feel sad when someone from their herd dies.
- At the beginning of the 20th century, there were two public executions of elephants. In 1903, Topsy the elephant was electrocuted for trampling 3 people. 13 years later, another elephant named Big Mary was executed for a similar crime. They decided to execute her by hanging on a crane.
- Another very wonderful interesting fact. Ivory is not only the naming of elephant tusks. In addition to them, this term is called the fangs of a hippopotamus, the fangs of walruses. Mammoth tusks and even sperm whale teeth. It's all ivory.)
- If you look at the leg of an elephant with the help of an X-ray, you can see that he walks as if on his fingers, i.e. on tiptoe, and his heel is raised. Thus, the entire load goes to the fingers, and this entire massive leg inside practically consists of one fat.
- Elephants drink an average of 100-200 liters per day, and their trunk can hold up to 8 liters of water.
- Most of the time the elephant spends eating (about 16 hours).
As you know, elephants are the largest land animals on planet Earth. Elephants living in India are considered larger in size than African elephants.
To better see: what place does an elephant occupy in the animal world, look at our amazing photos and learn some fascinating facts about these eared giants.
There is no creature in the world that looks like an elephant: does any animal have such huge ears and such a trunk? Why does this animal need a trunk? For water procedures, for smelling, nutrition and even for communication. Did you know that elephants are able to pick up certain sound frequencies with their ears that are available only to them.
Listen to the elephant's voice
Even being at a distance from each other, elephants can use their "locators" - their ears.
What else is remarkable about elephants?
Elephants are very smart animals. It turns out that the average elephant takes at least 16 hours a day to absorb food. How much food can you eat in that amount of time? From 45 to 450 kilograms. As for the liquid, her elephant drinks from 100 to 300 liters per day. Here he is such a "water drinker"!
Elephants, both and - animals are very caring and attentive towards each other. They are very worried and mourn if a misfortune happens to one of the members of the herd. When a baby elephant is born in the "elephant family", everyone is ready to help in the care and upbringing of the baby.
How long do elephants live?
These giants are able to live up to the age of 70 years. The elephant sleeps very little - only four hours a day. But even this time spent in a dream gives the elephant a charge of vivacity and strength for a new day.
On the intelligence of elephants
Elephants are considered one of the smartest animals on planet Earth. They have a phenomenal memory: this applies to both the events in their lives and the people who interact with them (for example, in a circus or a zoo).
And now some photos of amazing animals - elephants.
The elephant is the largest land animal. 
Elephant intelligence is evident. 
An elephant is an animal that cannot jump. 
A newborn elephant weighs about 90 kilograms and is 100 cm long. 
Elephant tusk is a valuable prey for humans, because of these parts of the body, elephants often become victims of poachers. 
Elephant riding is one of the main attractions for tourists in hot countries. 
Photos are taken from the Internet.
Elephants are amazing animals. People have been admiring their mind, endurance and wisdom for more than one millennium. In addition, the elephant is the largest mammal living on land. These animals have a huge powerful body, large ears and a long trunk, with which you can not only eat, but also bathe or take objects. If elephants have tusks, unfortunately, endlessly attracting poachers, hunters for easy money. Usually the weight of the animal does not exceed eight tons, but an elephant weighing 12 tons has been recorded in history. How much does it weigh on this moment the biggest elephant in the world?
If we deviate from official facts in the direction of archival data, then the largest elephant would be an animal caught in Angola in the 19th century. It weighed almost 12.5 tons, and both tusks weighed at least half a centner each.
More recently, the title of the largest elephant in the world was received by an animal named Yossi. He lives in the Israeli zoo "Safari" and is quite old. His age has already exceeded three decades, and he weighs 6000 kg. The tail length of Yossi is 100 cm, the ears are about twenty meters, and the trunk is two and a half meters. He is about four meters tall.
The elephant is the so-called "elder" of the zoo.
Because of his size, he can hardly push through the gates of his pen, he even has to squat for this. Veterinarians agree that physical exercise do not harm him, but on the contrary, benefit him.
The largest animals belong to this species. Compared to its Asian relative, it is much larger, and both males and females have tusks. The largest and heaviest elephant in history, weighing 12 tons and 7 meters high, belonged to the African species. Even their individual tusks can weigh up to 200 kilograms. Tusks are needed both for protection against predators (although few dare to attack such giants, except for the old and sick), and for digging the earth and skinning tree bark.
In the wild, they can be found in Zimbabwe, Senegal or Namibia.
Of course, the height and weight of the animal is largely dependent on nutrition. AT good conditions elephants eat about 1.5 centners of food per day, females a little less. Actually, about 2/3 of the day it takes them only to absorb food, only two hours to sleep, and the rest - to search for food. During the dry season, they have to travel many kilometers in search of food and drink. The main delicacies of giants are grass and young tree shoots. If possible, eat fruit. However, only about half of this amount of food is digested.
The habitat of African elephants used to be the entire African continent, but now the range has been significantly reduced due to human fault. Most of these animals have found refuge in the national parks of the Congo, Tanzania and Kenya.
This animal is significantly inferior in size to its African counterpart. The largest representative of this species was killed in 1924, its weight exceeded 8 tons. tusks Asian elephant several times less than African, and are not present in all individuals.
Initially, these animals lived throughout Southeast Asia, from the Malay Peninsula to Mesopotamia, as well as on some Indonesian islands, the Himalayas and certain regions of China. Now the range is greatly reduced, there are fragments in India, Malaysia, Thailand, Bhutan and some other regions.
In Sri Lanka, there is a subspecies of elephants without tusks, which are called makhna in the local dialect.
Moreover, biologists have identified as many as five subspecies of the Asian elephant:
- Indian, whose males have not yet lost their tusks;
- Sri Lankan - has a large head without tusks with spots on the forehead and at the base of the trunk;
- the Bornean is a rather small animal, but with very large ears and almost straight tusks;
- Sumatran - one of the smallest elephants, he was even nicknamed "pocket";
- a separate subspecies living in Sri Lanka. This elephant is quite tall, 30 centimeters taller than the standard Indian elephant. There are only about 100 of them left.
Elephants usually live about 6-7 decades. Officially recognized as the longest-lived elephant from Taiwan, who died in 2003, Lin-Wan. This "veteran" was used by the Chinese from 1934 to 1957 during armed conflicts with the Japanese.
It is worth noting that the elephant is often considered a serious pest for Agriculture. And not without reason: it happens that they destroy whole herds of rice, sugarcane or banana plantations. And, despite their impressive complexion, these animals run pretty fast, especially in case of panic: then they will crush anyone that gets in their way, or they can even demolish a brick wall.
At the time of death, the animal was 86 years old.
Unfortunately, the number of these beautiful animals is steadily declining. The reasons for this are as follows:
- killing by poachers hunting for meat and tusks;
- persecution by villagers trying to protect their land;
- general deterioration environment associated with human activity;
- despite their size, elephants quite often die under the wheels of road transport.
Elephants are one of the few animals capable of conscious emotion. They mourn when their neighbor dies, especially if it is a newborn baby elephant. And from good events they rejoice and even laugh in their own way. If a small cub falls to the ground, an adult (not necessarily a parent) will certainly extend its trunk to it to help it get up. They very often hug, using trunks for this.
