what kind of animal are Elephants? Elephants are the largest animals on the planet earth. They are deliriously expressive animals, they have the qualities like compassion and kindness, anger and envy, joy and happiness, grief and sadness the purest of emotion dwell within these animals. Although the research has shown that elephants have the complexity of thoughts and feelings. These hulking masses grow by eating grass and roots because they are herbivores. An elephant has two tusks and a long trunk through which he lifts heavy loads and uses it as a pipe for water to the mouth. Elephants might be huge, but they are very sensitive.
Introduction of elephants.
Elephant belongs to the Elephantidae family. They are the massive existing animal of all. There are three main species living on earth, African bush elephants, African forest elephants, and Asian elephants. Elephantidae is the last surviving family of these species.
There is a number of species that have gone extinct due to climate change, human and evolution. The extinct species of elephants are.
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Mammoths
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Straight tusked elephants
Qualities of African elephants.
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Large ears.
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Concave backs.
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Proboscis.
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Tusks.
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Massive legs.
Qualities of Asian elephants
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Smaller ears.
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Convex backs.
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Trunk.
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Tusk.
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Sensitive skin.
Habitats of elephants.
Elephants dwell throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephants usually are found in savannahs, forests, and deserts. They are herbivores which means they only eat grass and roots. They stay mostly closer to water reserves like lakes, canals where they can have access to water easily.
Social nature of elephants.
Elephants show this social nature of fusion and fission society where different families come together and socialize. Females use to live in groups like families where one female has many babies to take care of and look after the newborn. these groups are usually led by the eldest female.
Males, on the other hand, are exiled from the group when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males until he finds a companion. When the male gets adult and look start looking for female they get into a state where their testosterone is increased, and they become aggressive.
it helps them gain dominance over other male elephants and are approved by females for the reproduction process.
Baby elephants.
They are the main attention for the family and live with their mothers for almost three years. They are taken care of for three years by their mother and then based on their gender they are either exiled or spared to live with family.
Life of an elephant.
The normal age of an elephant is 70 years. In these seventy years, they live three years with the family and their mother, and they look for their right for whole life.
How does the elephant communicate?
Elephants have a unique communication system when they are close to each other they communicate through smell, sight, and specific sounds.
Elephants have a genius communication system for long-distance communication they use infrasonic sounds and seismic communication. Elephants are the intelligent animals of all because have self-awareness and show empathy to the dying partners of the family.
Summary
Put simply, elephants are intelligent animals who have social nature and unique communications system. They have three different species present. They show compassion to they are dying elephants of the family.
History of elephants.
Elephants are considered to be the descendants of mammoth lived millions of years ago before pre human history. They were entirely different from modern-day elephants. They were huge and had wool on their body because of their adaptation to their snowy cold habitats.
They got extinct due to hunters and climate change some of the evolved the others who could not do were exterminated.
There were 350 members of elephant species, but presently there are only two last species of elephants African and Asian elephants. Very soon these species are also facing threats of extinction due to human advancements to their habitats.
Characteristics of mammoths
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Bumps of hair on the head.
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Male and female both had tusks.
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Some were straight-tusked, and some were curved-tusked mammoths.
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The length of their tusk was 4 meters.
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They had flat teeth.
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Most of them were like modern-day Asian elephants.
African elephants.
African elephants are also known as Loxodonta Africana. They can grow up to nine meters in length and can be heavy to six tons. They can be 4 meters tall to the shoulder. These elephants are recently added to the threatened list because back in roman times they could be seen throughout Africa but then their habitats started to shrink due to poachers and hunters now they are scarcely seen throughout Africa.
The territory of African elephants.
African elephants live mostly on the African continent.
African forest elephants.
They are also called Loxodonta cyclones. These elephants are smaller than African elephants they can be heavy up to 2.6 tons and can be tall up to 2.5 meters. The African forest elephants are also added to the threatened list of species.
The territory of African forest elephants.
African forest elephants tend to dwell among the forests of Africa where they can eat a lot of leaves.
Asian elephant
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Asian elephants are also called Elephas maximus. They can grow from 5 to 6 meters long and can be heavy up to 2.5 tons and can get up to meters taller. They are considered endangered species presently
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The territory of Asian elephants.
Most of the Asian elephants live in the wilderness of India and two other countries besides their territory range from the Himalayas to China.
Elephant species surviving.
| Specie of elephant | Surviving presently |
|---|---|
| Asian elephants | Estimated number 20 to 40 k |
| African elephants | 415,000 across Africa |
| African forest elephants | Less than 100,000 |
Facts about elephants.
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Largest animals on earth.
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They can be differentiated through their ears.
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They have a lot of skills in their trunks
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Tusks are teeth
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Their skin is thick but sensitive
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They constantly eat.
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They use vibration for communication.
Summary
There are three species of elephants and they are all unique in their own way because they have got different habitats. They have evolved differently and live differently.
FAQ (Frequently asked questions).
People ask many questions about elephants. We discussed some of them below.
1. How many species of elephants are there on land?
There are three species of elephants surviving presently.
2. Do elephants have aggressive nature?
Elephants can be aggressive when they are at a “musth” state and females are aggressive when they have calves around them or when they are harassed.
3. What is the difference between African and Asian elephants?
African elephants are dark and have large ears while Asian elephants have smaller ears and have light grey color.
4. What do elephants eat?
Elephants are herbivores and eat plants and roots.
5. Why elephants are endangered?
Elephants are endangered due to the overpopulation of humans. We are constantly moving into the jungles deforesting their habitats making them leave their habitats. The second reason is hunting them for their tusks.
Conclusion
Elephants are the descendants of the mammoths which got extinct a million years ago. Some of them adapted but still on the edge of extermination due to human influence on the forests. Humans have been hunting them constantly for their own benefit. That is why they are on the edge of extinction.
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