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Elephants have massive ears to help regulate their body temperature. They have huge blood vessels in their ears. The blood vessels are large and quite visible on the backs of the elephant’s ears.
Flapping them creates air currents and exposes the ears' inner sides where large blood vessels increase heat loss during hot weather. The trunk is a prehensile elongation of its upper lip and nose. This highly sensitive organ is innervated primarily by the trigeminal nerve , and is thought to be manipulated by about 40,000–60,000 muscles.
Warm blood flows into the capillaries, releasing excess heat into the environment. This effect is increased by flapping the ears back and forth. Larger ear surfaces contain more capillaries, and more heat can be released. Of all the elephants, African bush elephants live in the hottest climates and have the largest ear flaps.
The animals' reactions demonstrated they were happy with their move, the elephants’ manager Erin Gardiner said. “The behaviors that we saw that indicated to us that they felt really comfortable and also excited to see each other were lots of ear flapping, trunk touching, lots of vocalizations,” Gardiner said.
The African bush elephant has grey skin with scanty hairs. Its large ears cover the whole shoulder, [12] and can grow as large as 2 m × 1.5 m (6 ft 7 in × 4 ft 11 in). [13] Its large ears help to reduce body heat; flapping them creates air currents and exposes large blood vessels on the inner sides to increase heat loss during hot weather. [14]
Are elephants mammals? Discover the answers to all of those questions along with a few more tidbits that Discover Fascinating Facts About Elephants: The World’s Largest Land Mammals
Asian elephants do not have this concern, as they live in more tropical and wet climates. The post Size, Tusks, and Ears: How African and Asian Elephants Differ appeared first on A-Z Animals ...
African elephant ears are far bigger than those of their ancestors and are said to take on the shape of Africa. Asian elephant ears are fashioned like the Indian subcontinent. The trunks of ...