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A female African bush elephant skeleton on display at the Museum of Osteology, Oklahoma City. The first scientific description of the African elephant was written in 1797 by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who proposed the scientific name Elephas africanus. [3] Loxodonte was proposed as a generic name for the African elephant by Frédéric Cuvier in
An African elephant’s ears are extremely large and billowing, while Asian elephant’s ears are smaller and look crumpled. An African elephant’s trunk is very different from an Asian elephant ...
Articles related to the African elephants (genus Loxodonta), a group comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant (L. africana) and the smaller African forest elephant (L. cyclotis). Both are social herbivores with grey skin.
Tusks, which are derived from the incisor teeth, serve both as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
In 2013, over 20,000 African elephants were killed for their ivory. The slaughter of African elephants is driven by the black market value of elephant ivory. The illicit trade in ivory is primarily in Asia where ivory sells for several thousands of dollars per kilogram. [8] Satao's tusks were estimated to weigh more than 100 pounds (45 kg) each.
Elephant tusks are both a valuable tool and a potential liability for these gentle giants. The desire for ivory has made elephants popular targets for illegal poaching, and it can have a ...
Animals in difficult environments, such as drought-prone savannas, benefit from excellent long-term memories. As we’ve seen, elephants have a large cerebral cortex capable of creating a large ...
An African elephant in Tanzania, with visible tusks. Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with narwhals, chevrotains, musk deer, water deer, muntjac, pigs, peccaries, hippopotamuses and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors.