| GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ELEPHANTS |
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ORIGINS OF THE PROBOSCIDEA--ORDER OF MAMMALS TO WHICH THE ELEPHANT BELONGS
PROBOSCIDEA
pro�bos�cid�e�an or pro�bos�cid�i�an (prO"bu�sid'E�un, -bo-, prO�bos"i�dE'un)
Defined as:
belonging or pertaining to the Proboscidea, an order of massive tusked mammals with a flexible trunk and columnar legs, comprising the elephant and the now extinct mammoth and mastodon.
Proboscidea originated in North Africa beginning with Moeritherium about 50 million years ago. They were found worldwide except in Australia, Anarctica and some islands.
"Proboscidea" is of Greek origins. Pro = forward or in front of. Boskein means to feed or mouth. Evidence for a trunklike organ has been known since the "woolly mammoths" and in the living elephants.
ELEPHANT LINEAGE
Moeritherium
Phiomia
Palaeomastodon
Gomphotherium
Deinotherium
Mastodon
Mammuthus
Elephas Maximus
Loxodonta Africana
MASTODON
The name for a number of prehistoric mammals of the extinct genus Mammut, from which modern elephants are believed to have developed. The earliest known forms lived in the Oligocene epoch in Africa. These were long-jawed mastodons about 4 1/2 ft (137 cm) high, with four tusks and a greatly elongated face. Their descendants in the Miocene epoch were the size of large elephants, the latest forms having long, flexible trunks, like those of elephants, and only two tusks. During Miocene times they spread over Europe, Asia, and North America. The mastodons were forest dwellers; they obtained their food by browsing and their teeth were more numerous and of a simpler form than those of the elephant. They were apparently extinct in the Old World by the early Pleistocene epoch but survived in North America until late Pleistocene times. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Proboscidae, family Mammutidae.
MAMMOTH
The name for several large prehistoric elephants of the extinct genus Mammuthus, which ranged over Eurasia and North America in the Pleistocene epoch. The shoulder height of the Siberian, or woolly, mammoth, which roamed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, was about 9 ft (2.7 m), and that of the imperial mammoth of the North American Great Plains was up to 13 1/2 ft (4.1 m). Mammoths were covered by a long, shaggy, black outer coat and a dense, woolly undercoat. They had complex, many-ridged molar teeth; long, slender upward-curved tusks; and a long trunk. Ivory hunters have collected their tusks for centuries in Siberia, where some 50,000 have been discovered; it is from these and from the drawings left by the Cro-Magnon people in the caves of S France that the mammoth's appearance is known. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) people hunted mammoths, as is evidenced by remains of the animals found together with tools, and may have contributed to their extinction. Mammoths are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Proboscidea, family Elephantidae.
ELEPHANTS: --largest living land animals
--stem from a line of animals that developed in Eocene or Oligocene geological times
--descendents of small tapir-like animals.
--order Proboscidea and family Elephantidae
CLASSIFICATION
Elephants are the only living representatives of their order, which was once widespread over most of the world; it included the mammoth and the mastodon. Elephants are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Proboscidae, family Elephantidae.
ELEPHANTS ARE: The largest living land mammal, found in tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Elephants have massive bodies and heads, thick, pillarlike legs, and broad, short padded feet, with toes bearing heavy, hooflike nails. The gray skin is loose, tough, thick, and nearly hairless. The slender tail ends in a tuft of hair. The upper lip and nose are elongated into a flexible trunk, or proboscis, reaching nearly to the ground; this sensitive appendage is used for picking up food, feeding from trees and other sources and for drawing up water. Elephants drink by sucking water into the trunk and squirting it into the mouth; they also use the trunk to spray themselves with water and with dust. The trunk produces a variety of noises, including a loud trumpeting. The large, thin, floppy ears provide an extensive cooling surface; the animal flaps its ears vigorously when it is overheated. The upper incisor teeth are elongated into tusks�highly valued for their ivory�which the animal uses for digging up roots and tubers. A gland between the eye and the ear periodically produces an oily substance called musth; during these periods the animal is in an excitable, dangerous condition, also called musth, meaning madness. Such a condition occurs more often in males than in females and is thought to be a state of sexual excitement.
ELEPHANTS ARE: browsing animals, feeding on fruits, leaves, shoots, and tall grasses; they consume hundreds of pounds of food a day and drink up to 50 gal (190 liters) of water. They have no fixed living place, but travel about in herds of up to 100 animals, led by a young, strong male and including young bulls (males), cows (females), and calves. Old males are generally solitary or live in small groups. A rogue elephant is a solitary old male that has become violent and dangerous. During the mating season, elephant pairs may live away from the herd for a few weeks. A single calf is born after a gestation of 18 to 22 months and is nursed for 5 years. Elephants reach maturity at between 15 and 25 years of age; their lifespan is usually 60 or 70 years. Elephants walk at a pace of about 4 mi (6.4 km) per hr, but can charge at speeds of 30 mi (48 km) per hr. They cannot jump and so cannot pass barriers too wide or too high to step over; they swim well, however.
| FAMILY LIFE |
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FAMILY UNIT IS A HERD
A HERD CONTAINS FROM 20 TO 40 ELEPHANTS OF ALL AGES
MALES ARE CALLED BULLS
FEMALES ARE CALLED COWS
LEADER IS USUALLY AN OLD COW CALLED A MATRIARCH
GROUPS OF 6 TO 8 MALES--TEN TO TWELVE YEARS OLD FORM SEPARATE BACHELOR HERDS
HUGE PATRIARCHS OF BULLS OFTEN END UP LIVING ALONE OR FORMING CLUSTERS OF TWO OR THREE INDIVIDUALS
ELEPHANTS SHOW A GREAT DEAL OF AFFECTION FOR EACH OTHER IN THE FAMILY UNIT
MATING INVOLVES FOREPLAY OF TOUCHING AND CARESSING. THIS TAKES PLACE DURING �RUTTING� SEASON
COWS ARE USUALLY RECEPTIVE DURING THE RAINY SEASON AND SOME SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT FEMALES ARE QUASIPERPETUAL ESTRUS
MALES ARE IN MUSTH, AS IT IS USUALLY CALLED, DURING THE MATING SEASON. THIS SOMETIMES CAUSES THE BULLS TO GO MAD AS THEY TRAMPLE DOWN EVERYTHING THAT CROSSES THEIR PATH
GESTATION PERIOD AFTER MATING IS ABOUT 22 MONTHS
THE COW GENERALLY BEAR YOUNG NO OFTENER THAN ONCE EVERY 4 OR 5 YEARS
COWS USUALLY GIVE BIRTH TO A SINGLE CALF WEIGHING ABOUT 200 POUNDS AND STANDING ABOUT 3 FEET
THE CALVES ARE NURSED BY THEIR MOTHERS FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS AND STAYS WITH THE MOTHER FOR TWO MORE YEARS FOR PROTECTION
ELEPHANTS USUALLY FEED AT NIGHT
ELEPHANTS GENERALLY DO NOT TRAVEL BY DAYLIGHT EXCEPT IN COOL, CLOUDY WEATHER OR WHEN TROUBLED BY HUNTERS (HUMAN OR ANIMAL)
| ELEPHANTS IN THE WORLD TODAY |
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ASIAN AND AFRICAN ELEPHANTS
There are two species: the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, found in India and SE Asia, and the African elephant, Loxodonta africana, found in Africa south of the Sahara. African bull elephants may reach a shoulder height of 13 ft (4 m) and weigh 6 to 8 tons (5400�7200 kg). Their tusks are more than 10 ft (3 m) long and weigh up to 200 pounds (90 kg) each. Females are somewhat smaller and have more slender tusks. African elephants have enormous ears, measuring up to 42 in. (107 cm) in diameter. The long, conspicuously wrinkled trunk terminates in two fleshy, fingerlike protuberances, used for handling objects. The Indian bull elephant reaches about 9 ft (2.7 m) in shoulder height and weighs about 3.5 tons (3200 kg); its tusks are up to 6 ft (180 cm) long. The female of this species has no tusks. The ears of the Indian elephant are much smaller than in the African species, and the trunk somewhat shorter and smoother, ending in a single protuberance.
ELEPHANTS AND HUMANS
Elephants are regarded as among the most intelligent of mammals and can be trained to work and to perform. Indian elephants are extensively used as beasts of burden, especially in teak forests, where they carry logs with their trunks. They are not considered truly domesticated as they do not breed well in captivity. Young animals are captured from the wild. Training and handling take skill. Elephants have complex emotions and vary individually in temperament. African elephants are often said to be less tractable, but they too were formerly used for work, as well as for warfare. Hannibal's army crossed the Alps using African elephants, which were at that time probably found in the Atlas Mountains. Elephants seen in zoos and circuses are usually of the Indian species. Although the famous Jumbo, who toured the United States in the late 19th century giving rides to children, was an African elephant. In Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), albino elephants have long been held sacred. Elephants have been extensively hunted for food and for ivory. Their numbers are now greatly reduced. However, they are now afforded protection in certain areas.
IVORY
A type of dentin present only in the tusks of the elephant. Ivory was obtained mainly from Africa, where elephant tusks are larger than they are in Asia, the second major source, and much dead ivory was taken from remains of extinct mammoths found in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. African tusks of about 55 pounds (25 kg) each are common, although tusks of more than 200 pounds (91 kg) have been recorded. In commerce, ivory is classified as live (from recently killed animals) and dead (tusks long stored or on the ground for extended periods and lacking the resilience of live ivory). Ivory may be of a soft or hard variety; the former type is more moist, cracks less easily than the brittle hard ivory, and is easier to work. In the West, soft ivory, obtainable primarily from the eastern half of Africa, was preferred to the hard variety from W Africa. Green, or guinea, ivory denotes certain types of ivory obtained from a wide belt in north central Africa, from the east to the west coasts. At various periods in Africa, native peoples, Arabs, and European colonial powers dominated the trade (now banned) in ivory. Zanzibar, Antwerp, London, and Hong Kong have been major centers of ivory commerce. Natural substitutes (e.g., tagua, or vegetable ivory) for ivory or near equivalents have long been used. The tooth structure of many other animals, such as the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, sperm whale, and wild boar, is also often called ivory.
Uses of Ivory
Ivory is prized for its close-grained texture, adhesive hardness, mellow color, and pleasing smoothness. It may be painted or bleached, and is an excellent material for carving. Large surfaces suitable for veneer are obtained by cutting spiral sheets around the tusk. Commercial uses of ivory include the manufacture of piano and organ keys, billiard balls, handles, and minor objects of decorative value. In modern industry, ivory is used in the radar. Its use in art dates back to prehistoric times, when representations of animals were incised manufacture of electrical appliances, including specialized electrical equipment for airplanes and on tusks. Objects in ivory were created in ancient Egypt, Assyria, Crete, Mycenae, Greece, and Italy, and there are many Biblical references to its use at least from the time of Solomon. Large Greek statues, such as the Athena of Phidias, were made in gold and ivory (chryselephantine) and the Romans made lavish use of ivory in furniture, implements of war, and decorative items. A considerable number of diptychs and panels in ivory, given as gifts primarily by Roman consuls, still exist. Ivory plaques, diptychs, boxes, liturgical objects, book covers, and small statues were made in great numbers from early Christian times until c.1400, but the production of these objects declined thereafter. Ivory carving was practiced both in W Europe and in the Byzantine Empire. In India, ivory carving furniture, for small statues, and occasionally as a surface for miniature painting and turning has been done from ancient times. In China and Japan ivory has been used for inlay and small objects, especially for statues and carvings of small size and great precision and beauty of detail. In the last few centuries in Europe and North America, ivory has been employed to decorate.
The Threat to Elephants
The diminishing number of elephants, to a large extent the result of wholesale slaughter for tusks, and the resulting increased cost of ivory have encouraged the making of imitations and the use of natural substitutes. One strategy for controlling the slaughter of elephants for their ivory is to permit a regulated trade that would reduce poaching and provide profit to Africans, but not deplete the elephant population. Most recently, however, countries that supply and consume ivory have enacted a complete ban on ivory trade. A new method of determining the origin of a tusk by using DNA or radio isotopes will help zoologists to fight poaching.
| LITTLE KNOWN FACTS |
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--Most elephants found on Sri Lanka, male or female, have no tusks.
--Elephants can walk at about 5 miles per hour for hours on end.
--The trunk has no bones. Nearly 150,000 muscles and nerves provide flexibility.
--Elephants trunks are an elongation of the nose and upper lip.
--Tusks are strong and are used for procuring food, but ellies occasionally snap off a tusk when digging up roots or gouging fibers out of a tree trunk.
--Tusks continued to grow throughout the elephant's life.
--Ellies appear to have a dominant side and use one tusk more than the other in foo d gathering. As a result of this dominance, the preferred tusk usually has a blunter tip and a thicker diameter than the other tusk.
--Elephants walk well-worn trails that have been used for centuries. These trail lead to favorite watering places. The ability to find water is critical to their survival.
--When elephants charge, they fan out their ears & either roll up their trunk or hold it to the side to get it out of the way.
--Elephants often take up to 18 quarts of water into their trunks at once.
--Elephants place their trunks in their mouths and blow water down their throats.
--Elephants can also put their trunks into their mouths and extract water from their stomachs. They spray the water on themselves in order to cool off.
--Patterns on the bottom of an elephant's foot are as individualistic as a human's fingerprints.
--Older elephants rarely l ie down. It is quite difficult for them to get up. Younger ellies frequently will lie down.
--When ellies sit and then rise, they extend their front legs and rest their weight on their knees. They then tip forward and heave themselves up on hind feet.
--Elephants often rest by raising one foot and crossing it behind another.
--Elephants have quite small eyes in relationship to their size. They have long stiff, eyelashes to protect their eyes.
--Elephants sniff each other all over when they meet. By doing this, they are able to recognize one another individually.
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