The elephant’s unique foot structure enables secure movement over uneven terrain and swampy ground.
The African Elephant: Everything Your Need to Know
The largest animals on earth are African elephants. They roam 37 nations in Africa with their herds. They can be identified by their trunk, which they use for both communication and day-to-day survival. Additionally, they might radiate extra heat thanks to their big ears. African elephants’ upper incisor teeth evolve into tusks during the course of their lives.
The savanna (or bush) elephant and the forest elephant are the two different species of elephant found in Africa. The tusks of savanna elephants bend outward, and they are larger than forest elephants. Forest elephants are smaller and darker, and their tusks are straighter and downward-pointing. The size and shape of the skull and skeleton differ between the two species as well.
Habitat
The African elephant or “ellie” as we’re fond of calling it, is the largest animals walking the Earth. They can be found across 36 countries in Africa, however the majority of their population is now located in Southern Africa, namely Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
In general, African elephants are found in areas with access to water, as they require a lot of water to sustain their large bodies. They are also found in areas with vegetation that can provide the large amounts of food they require to survive.
In forested areas, African elephants can be found in both tropical and subtropical forests, including rainforests, montane forests, and riverine forests. In savannah areas, they can be found in both dry and wet savannah, as well as in grasslands and scrublands. In desert areas, they are typically found near water sources such as oases or riverbeds. In wetland areas, they are often found in swamps, marshes, and floodplains.
African elephants are social animals and can be found in herds of varying sizes depending on the habitat and the availability of food and water. They are found in several African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. However, due to habitat loss and poaching, the African elephant population has declined significantly in recent years, and they are now listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Herd Behavior
The African elephant, much like the African wild dog, is a social animal that thrives when living in a group. These groups are known as a herd. A herd can range from 8–100 individuals. The size usually depends on the terrain and family size. An African female African elephant will remain in a herd till the day they die, whereas the males leave the herd when they reach maturity (from the age of 10 to 19 years old). Bull elephants, who are between the ages of 30 and 35 years old, will leave the herd to live a more solitary life. They are often called bachelors because they will form small “herds” of their own with other bulls. They then go through a period of musth. Bull elephants that experience musth exhibit extremely aggressive behaviour and experience a significant increase in their reproductive hormones. An elephant’s testosterone levels during musth might be up to 60 times higher than they are at other times.
The African elephant is very loyal to its family members and will go to great lengths to protect the interest of the herd. Calves are especially attached to their mothers and make sure they are never far away from her.
In a herd, males are in the minority. There is usually a matriarch, who is the oldest in the herd. When it comes to the African elephant herd, the term “girl power” is definitely relevant. The matriarch is known for being experienced and knowledgeable, with the know-how to guide the herd through hardship. She leads them to food and water sources and even teaches the calves how to protect themselves against predators. While the herd is dominated by females, the males keep a watchful eye over their young.
Female elephants are ready to become mums around the age of 14–16 years old. They are only able to carry one calf at a time and can give birth to at least 12 calves throughout their lives. Female elephants have a long gestation period of 22 months, just under two years.
Once an African elephant mates, they very rarely stray from their partners, although this is possible. Elephants are good at developing strong bonds with their family members. They can establish lifelong relationships and deeply mourn the loss of loved ones and calves that do not survive their first few months. They also visit the place where family members or newborns died and stay for quite some time.
Trunk
The elephant’s trunk is an extension of the upper lip and nose. It functions for grasping, breathing, feeding, dusting, smelling, drinking, lifting, sound production/communication, defense/protection, and sensing.
The trunk contains an estimated 100,000 muscles and tendons in the trunk, giving it extreme flexibility and strength. Elephant trunks are capable of expanding, contracting, and moving in a diverse array of directions.
Asian elephants have one finger-like projection at the tip of the trunk and African elephants have two. These finger-like projections have many sensitive nerve endings and are capable of fine motor skills, such as grasping small and delicate objects.
An adult Asian elephant can hold up to 8.5 L (2.2 gal.) of water in its trunk. Water is sprayed into the mouth for drinking and onto the back to keep cool.
Elephants’ trunks and keen sense of smell are used to survey the environment. The trunk is raised and waived in the air to gather scent particles. Through the trunk, the scent particles are then carried to a specialized gland called the Jacobson’s organ, located in the roof of the mouth. The Jacobson’s organ is able to gather information about the elephant’s surroundings by detecting and analyzing molecules and particles from the air. Through this process, elephants are capable of locating water sources up to 19.2 km (12 mi.) away and can even determine the reproductive status of distant elephants.
Elephants can reach vegetation as high as 5.7 m (19 ft.) by rearing up onto their hind legs and extending their trunk.
Small sensory hairs extend the length of the elephant’s trunk enhance its sensitivity. These small hairs facilitate tactile communication during courtship and when caring for young.
Elephant trunks are very powerful-capable of uprooting an entire tree trunk, tearing down heavy branches, and delivering a forceful blow in self-defense.
Ears
Elephant ears are about one-sixth the size of its entire body and primarily function as a cooling mechanism. The ears contain extensive networks of tiny blood vessels, which are visible at the outer margins, where the skin is only about one to two mm (0.04 – 0.08 in.) thick. The warm blood cools as it circulates through the vessels in the ear, due to the thin layer of skin that separates it from the outside air. The cooler blood then circulates back into the body, helping reduce the overall body temperature of the elephant.
The size of elephant ears is proportionate to its geographic distribution. The closer to the equator the elephant resides, the larger the ears, allowing more heat to dissipate (remove) from the body, and therefore has larger ears. African elephants live closest to the equator and have the largest ears, followed by the Asian elephants. The now extinct woolly mammoth, lived near the North Pole, and had the smallest ears.
Elephants use their ears to funnel in sound waves from the environment, contributing to their keen sense of hearing.
Dentition
Both African and Asian elephants have a total of 26 teeth including two upper incisors (tusks), 12 premolars (non-permanent teeth similar to baby teeth), and 12 molars. Asian elephants have smaller tusks than those of African elephants and females have smaller tusks than males.
Each adult male tusk weighs between 50 and 79 kg (110 – 175 lb.) and an adult female’s tusk weighs between 18 and 20 kg (40 – 44 lb.). One of the heaviest tusks ever weighed was more than 100 kg (220 lb.).
African elephants have diamond-shaped ridges on their molars, whereas Asian elephants have long cylindrical ridges on theirs. The ridges help elephants grind course vegetation.
Most mammals replace cheek teeth (premolars and molars) in a vertical manner. The new tooth develops and replaces the old one, from above in the upper jaw and from below in the lower jaw. In elephants, the replacement of the cheek teeth is a horizontal process. New teeth develop at the back of the mouth and progress forward until worn out at the front.
Each molar tooth is about the size of a brick and weighs between 1.8 and 2.0 kg (4-4.5 lb.). Elephant molar teeth are replaced six times during its lifetime.
Elephants are born with temporary incisors (tusks) that are replaced with permanent ones between six and 13 months of age. Permanent tusks grow continuously at a rate of about 17 cm (6.7 in.) per year, reaching lengths of up to 3.5 m (7.7 ft.) for adult African male elephants.
The upper one-third of an elephant’s tusk, where it is embedded in the bone of the upper jaw, is mostly hollow and carries a single nerve. The top third embedded portion of the tusk functions as an anchor when digging and uprooting vegetation and aids defense.
Elephant ivory is distinguished from other animal dentition by its unique cross section patterning. An elephant tusk cross section shows diamond-shaped striations, called “engine turning” and is unique to elephants.
Similar to humans, elephants may be “left or right-handed,” meaning there is a preference to use one tusk over the other. As a result, one tusk may be more worn than the other.
