Elephant

Learn All the Details about Elephant and Elephant Lifespan 

Elephants are basically the largest animals to roam in the land on our planet. Coincidentally, they are also one of the most unique-looking species as well. Some of the most important characteristics of elephants include long noses, large floppy ears, trunks, thick, wide legs. Clearly, it can be said without a shadow of a doubt that elephants have some of the most uncommon physical features of all time. More information can be found about elephant lifespan from the notes that we have here for you. Students can use these notes to gather all the information that they need about this particular species in the best way. 

There are about two different types of elephants recognized by the experts. One of the types is named Asian Elephant and the other is called the African Elephant. Students will also get to know about these notes.

More Details about Scientific Name of Elephant 

Most of the African elephants take to Sub-Saharan Africa. These animals are situated mostly in West and Central Africa. Also, some of the elephants might be found in the Sahel Desert which is located in Mali. Asian elephants mostly reside in India, Nepal, as well as Southeast Asia.

Between the two species, the African elephants are the ones that are comparatively larger when it comes to size. The growth of these elephants happens between 8.2 to 13 feet in total. These elephants weigh about 5000 to 14000 pounds. Also, the African Elephant lifespan is about 70 years in total. The scientific name of elephant that is African is loxodonta africana. 

Asian elephants might be a bit smaller in height and the growth is somewhere between 6.6 to 9.8 feet. The weight of these elephants might be between 4500 to 11000 pounds in total. They might not have that much of a lifespan as well. The Asian Elephant lifespan is about 60 years which is a bit less than African elephants. The scientific name of elephant that is Asian is elephas maximus. These elephants reside on spate continents and are very easy to identify as well. There might be a few different sub-species of these elephants situated in different countries.

Size of an Elephant: Which is the Biggest Elephant in the World 

It is a known and very common fact that African Elephants are counted in the list of the biggest elephant in the world. The males are generally the ones that have more height and weight than the females. It is really important for students to know more about the size of the elephants if they need to get their facts straight. We have all the details that they need to know about when they are looking for information on the size of these elephants in the best way. Our notes are completely reliable and will provide authentic information for sure. 

When it comes to knowing about the biggest elephant in the world, there is simply not a single speck of doubt that it would be an African elephant. The largest one yet recorded would have to be the African Elephant that was found in Angola. The weight of the elephant was about 24000 pounds in total. The shoulder height was about 3.96 meters which are 13 feet in total. That height is a meter taller than any average male African Elephant. 

Get Some Details about Elephant Trunk

The trunk of an elephant is basically just an extension of the nose and the lip. The main function of the trunk is to help in breathing, grasping, dusting, smelling, drinking, feeding, and communication along with sound production as well. Not to mention that it is also used for sensing and protection for the elephants. There are about 100,000 muscles present in the trunk of an elephant. Hence, there is extreme flexibility present in it plus it is unmatched in strength as well. The elephant’s trunk is capable of contracting, expanding, as well as moving in different directions. 

There is a particular finger-life projection present in the tip of the trunk in different Asian elephants. The African elephants on the other hand have two of those projections. These projections actually have particular nerve endings and can help in enhancing the motor skills of the elephant such as grasping delicate and smaller objects. The capacity of the trunk of an Asian elephant is about 8.5 pounds of water. This water is used for drinking and spraying. The trunks of these elephants have a very keep an exceptional smelling sense which can be very useful in the surveillance of the environment in the best way. The elephants wave their trunks in the air in order to gather scent particles. Through the path of the trunk, these particles are transported to another gland that is known as Jacobson’s organ. This organ has its location on the roof of an elephant’s mouth. This organ is capable of gathering more information about the surrounding of an elephant through analyzing and detecting particles and molecules in the air. With the help of this organ, elephants can sense water bodies from a very far location as well. There are smaller sensory hairs that are present in the trunks for better sensitivity as well. These hairs also act as communication agents. Students can learn information about elephant size from these notes. 

Elephant Body Parts: Ears

The ears of an elephant are almost 1/6th of the entire size of an elephant’s body. It is one of the main elephant body parts. The main function of the ear is the cooling mechanism that they have. There is an elaborate network of tiny blood vessels present in that part of the body and it is completely visible in the exterior margins of the elephant. The skin on the outer surface of the ear is about 1-2 mm thick. The warm blood mostly cools down while traveling through these blood vessels with the skin layer acting as protection from our surroundings. With the temperature cooled down, this cooler blood is then circulated throughout the body without any difficulty. Hence, the overall temperature of the body of an elephant is much cooler than other organisms. One of the most important elephant facts is that the size of an elephant’s ear is proportional to the geographic distribution that it has. Elephants that reside closer to the equator have larger ears. This is for the dissipation of more and more heat. 

Bones of an Elephant: Important Details 

Another one of the most important body parts of an elephant would have to be the bones. Since the body of an elephant is large, the bones are also pretty large and are more in number as well. It is a well-known fact that the elephant skeleton consists of about 326-351 bones in total. The vertebrae of the elephant are mostly connected with the presence of strong and tighter joints. However, that leads to the weakening of flexibility in the backbone of the elephant. There are about 21 pairs of ribs present in the African Elephant whereas the Asian elephants contain about 19 or 20 different pairs of ribs in their bodies. These bones help provide a unique structure to the body of this particular species. 

Dentition in Elephants 

Both Asian, as well as African elephants, contain about 26 teeth in their mouth. There are 2 upper incisors that are known as tusks. The premolars present in the mouth are 12 in number and these are basically the non-permanent elephant teeth and are also known as baby teeth. There are also 12 molars present in the mouth and these basically have the primary function of food chewing. The size of the tusks in Asian elephants is basically a bit smaller than the African ones. Also, another known fact is that females have smaller tusks when compared to males. 

The average weight of male tusks ranges somewhere between 50-79 kg in total and the females have the weight of about 18 to 20 kg in total. The heaviest of the tusks to ever be recorded weighed more than 100 kg. A very interesting feature of the dentition in African elephants is that their molars contain a few diamond-shaped ridges. These ridges are cylindrical in shape when it comes to the Asian elephants. The main function of these ridges is to help in grinding some courser vegetation in the best way. It is a very common thing in mammals to replace their cheek teeth, which are the molars and the premolars, in a certain vertical fashion. However, there is an immediate development of the tooth. However, in elephants, the development happens in a horizontal manner. 

During the birth of an elephant, there are some temporary incisors which are known as tusks. These incisors are then replaced by more permanent ones. The length of these permanent incisors or tusks tends to grow at a rate of 17 cm every year.  

Foot of the Elephant

Another one of the most important elephant features that people need to know about is the foot. The skeleton of the elephant’s foot is basically angled. There is a big pad consisting of connective tissue and fat that is situated right in the heel of the foot. This particular angled structure of the foot would mean that elephants mostly use their tiptoes for walking on the lad. The bodyweight of the elephant is properly and evenly distributed with the help of the connective tissue. This particular structure of an elephant foot ensures that the movement of the animal is secured. This basically helps them in walking along uneven terrain as well as swampy grounds. 

Skin of an Elephant: Get More Information

When it comes to discussing elephant physical characteristics, the skin is one of the most important things to know about. The skin of an elephant is somewhat wrinkly and it might seem very stretchy to look at. African elephants tend to have more wrinkles in their skin when compared to the surface area of Asian elephants. The presence of additional skin in elephants has a very important function as it is used in trapping moisture. The moisture often takes a very long time to evaporate. So, the wrinkles tend to ensure that the elephants are always cooler for a longer period of time. 

One of the most interesting elephant facts to know about is that Asian elephants often have lesser wrinkles on their skin. This is due to the fact that their habitat mostly includes the areas where there are dense forests. The temperatures don’t tend to get much hotter in such areas. Hence, there is a reduction in the need to have wrinkled skin for such forest-dwelling elephants for sure. The thickness of an elephant's skin goes up to 3.8cm in total. However, their skin tends to be very sensitive as well and with the change in environment, the sensitivity and the thickness of the skin might have some changes as well. With a combination of fat inside the skin and an overall thickness of the skin, elephants are easily able to withstand hotter climates and severe changes in their environment as well. The coloration of the skin in elephants remains grey. However, in the case of some Asian elephants, the color is slightly changed due to the presence of distinct patches and some freckles on the surface of the trunk.