This article is about the living species.

For extinct relatives also known as elephants,

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African elephant in Mikumi National Park,
Tanzania.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Suphylum: !erterata
Cla"": Mammal
Superorder: Afrotheria
#rder: Proo"cidea
$amily: %lephantidae
&ray, '()'
Genera
Loxodonta
Elephas
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Traditionally,
two species are recognised, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the Asian
elephant (Elephas maximus), although some evidence suggests that African bush
elephants and African forest elephants are separate species
(L. africana and L. cclotis respectively). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-aharan
Africa, outh Asia, and outheast Asia. Elephantidae are the only surviving family of the order
Proboscidea! other, now e"tinct, families of the order include mammoths and mastodons. #ale
African elephants are the largest surviving terrestrial animals and can reach a height of $ m (%& ft)
and weigh ',((( )g (%*,((( lb). All elephants have several distinctive features the most notable of
which is a long trun) or proboscis, used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water and
grasping ob+ects. Their incisors grow into tus)s, which can serve as weapons and as tools for
moving ob+ects and digging. Elephants, large ear flaps help to control their body temperature.
Their pillar-li)e legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave
bac)s while Asian elephants have smaller ears and conve" or level bac)s.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests,
deserts and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be )eystone
species due to their impact on their environments. -ther animals tend to )eep their distance,
predators such as lions, tigers, hyenas and wild dogs usually target only the young elephants (or
.calves.). /emales (.cows.) tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her
calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual )nown as
the matriarch, often the oldest cow. Elephants have a fission-fusion society in which multiple family
groups come together to socialise. #ales (.bulls.) leave their family groups when they reach puberty,
and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when loo)ing
for a mate and enter a state of increasedtestosterone and aggression )nown as musth, which helps
them gain dominance and reproductive success. 0alves are the centre of attention in their family
groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to '( years in the
wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell and sound! elephants use infrasound, and seismic
communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that
of primates andcetaceans
1b whom!2
. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or
dead individuals of their )ind.
African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the 3nternational 4nion for 0onservation of
5ature (3405), while the Asian elephant is classed as endangered. -ne of the biggest threats to
elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tus)s. -ther
threats to wild elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people. Elephants are
used as wor)ing animals in Asia. 3n the past they were used in war! today, they are often put on
display in 6oos and circuses. Elephants are highly recognisable and have been featured in art,
fol)lore, religion, literature and popular culture.
Contents
1hide2
% Etymology
7 Ta"onomy
o 7.% 0lassification, species and subspecies
o 7.7 Evolution and e"tinct relatives
7.7.% 8warf species
& Anatomy and morphology
o &.% Ears
o &.7 Trun)
o &.& Teeth
&.&.% Tus)s
o &.$ )in
o &.* 9egs, locomotion and posture
o &.: 3nternal and se"ual organs
$ ;ehaviour and life history
o $.% Ecology and activities
o $.7 ocial organisation
o $.& e"ual behaviour
$.&.% #usth
$.&.7 #ating
o $.$ ;irthing and calves
o $.* 0ommunication
o $.: 3ntelligence and cognition
* 0onservation issues
o *.% tatus
o *.7 Threats
: Elephants and humans
o :.% <or)ing animal
o :.7 <arfare
o :.& =oos and circuses
o :.$ 8isease transmission
o :.* Attac)s
o :.: 0ultural depictions
' ee also
> ?eferences
o >.% ;ibliography
@ /urther reading
%( E"ternal lin)s
Etymology
The word .elephant. is based on the 9atin elephas (genitive elephantis) (.elephant.), which is
the 9atinised form of the Aree) BCDEF ( elephas) (genitive BCDEGHIF ( elephantos)),
1%2
probably from
a non-3ndo-European language, li)ely Phoenician.
172
3t is attested in#ycenaean Aree) as e"re"
pa and e"re"pa"to in 9inear ; syllabic script.
1&21$2
As in #ycenaean Aree), Jomer used the Aree) word
to mean ivory, but after the time of Jerodotus, it also referred to the animal.
1%2
The word .elephant.
appears in #iddle English as olfaunt(c.%&(() and was borrowed from -ld /rench oliphant (%7th
century).
172
3n wahili elephants are )nown as #dovu or Tembo. 3n ans)rit the elephant is
called hastin,
1*2
while in Jindi it is )nown as h$th% ().
1:2
Loxodonta, the generic name for the
African elephants, is Aree) for .obliKue-sided tooth..
1'2
Taxonomy
Classification, species and subspecies
&ee also' List of elephant species
Asian elephant in ;andipur 5ational Par), 3ndia
0omparative morphology of head and forepart of the body of the Asian elephant (1) and the African elephant (2)
Elephants belong to the family Elephantidae, the sole remaining family within the order Proboscidea.
Their closest e"tant relatives are the sirenians (dugongs and manatees) and the hyra"es, with which
they share the clade Paenungulata within the superorder Afrotheria.
1>2
Elephants and sirenians are
further grouped in the clade Tethytheria.
1@2
Traditionally, two species of elephants are recognised!
the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) of sub-aharan Africa, and the Asian
elephant (Elephas maximus) of outh and outheast Asia. African elephants have larger ears, a
concave bac), more wrin)led s)in, a sloping abdomen and two finger-li)e e"tensions at the tip of the
trun). Asian elephants have smaller ears, a conve" or level bac), smoother s)in, a hori6ontal
abdomen that occasionally sags in the middle and one e"tension at the tip of the trun). The looped
ridges on the molars are narrower in the Asian elephant while those of the African are more
diamond-shaped. The Asian elephant also has dorsal bumps on its head and some patches
of depigmentation on its s)in.
1%(2
3n general, African elephants are larger than their Asian cousins.
wedish 6oologist 0arl 9innaeus first described the genus Elephas and an elephant from ri
9an)a (then )nown as 0eylon) under the binomial Elephas maximus in %'*>. 3n %'@>, Aeorges
0uvier classified the 3ndian elephantunder the binomial Elephas indicus. 8utch 6oologist 0oenraad
Lacob Temminc) described the umatran elephant in %>$' under the binomial Elephas sumatranus.
English 6oologist /rederic) 5utter 0hasen classified all three assubspecies of the Asian elephant in
%@$(.
1%%2
Asian elephants vary geographically in their colour and amount of depigmentation. The ri
9an)an elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) inhabits ri 9an)a, the 3ndian elephant (E. m. indicus)
is native to mainland Asia (on the 3ndian subcontinent and 3ndochina), and the umatran elephant
(E. m. sumatranus) is found in umatra.
1%(2
-ne disputed subspecies, the ;orneo elephant, lives in
northern ;orneoand is smaller than all the other subspecies. 3t has larger ears, a longer tail, and
straighter tus)s than the typical elephant. ri 9an)an 6oologist Paules Edward Pieris
8eraniyagala described it in %@*( under the trinomial Elephas maximus borneensis, ta)ing as
his type an illustration in #ational (eographic.
1%72
3t was subseKuently subsumed under
either E. m. indicus or E. m. sumatranus. ?esults of a 7((& genetic analysis indicate its
ancestors separatedfrom the mainland population about &((,((( years ago.
1%&2
A 7((> study found
that ;orneo elephants are not indigenous to the island but were brought there before %*7% by
the ultan of ulu from Lava, where elephants are now e"tinct.
1%72
African forest elephant in3vindo 5ational Par), Aabon
The African elephant was first named by Aerman naturalist Lohann /riedrich ;lumenbach in %'@'
as Elephas africana.
1%$2
The genus Loxodonta was commonly believed to have been named by
Aeorges 0uvier in %>7*. 0uvier spelled it Loxodonte and an anonymous author romanised the
spelling to Loxodonta! the 3nternational 0ode of =oological 5omenclature recognises this as the
proper authority.
1%*2
3n %@$7, %> subspecies of African elephant were recognised by Jenry /airfield
-sborn, but further morphological data has reduced the number of classified subspecies,
1%:2
and by
the %@@(s, only two were recognised, the savannah or bush elephant (L. a. africana) and the forest
elephant (L. a. cclotis)!
1%'2
the latter has smaller and more rounded ears and thinner and straighter
tus)s, and is limited to the forested areas of western and 0entral Africa.
1%>2
A 7((( study argued for
the elevation of the two forms into separate species (L. africana and L. cclotis respectively) based
on differences in s)ull morphology.
1%@2
85A studies published in 7((% and 7((' also suggested they
were distinct species,
17(217%2
while studies in 7((7 and 7((* concluded that they were the same
species.
177217&2
/urther studies (7(%( and 7(%%) have supported African savannah and forest elephants,
status as separate species.
17$217*2
As of 7(%%, the ta"onomic designations of African elephants were still
debated.
17*2
The third edition of )ammal &pecies of the *orld lists the two forms as full species
1%*2
and
does not list any subspecies in its entry for Loxodonta africana.
1%*2
This approach is not ta)en by
the 4nited 5ations Environment Programme,s <orld 0onservation #onitoring 0entre nor by the
3405, both of which list L. cclotis as a synonym of L. africana.
17:217'2
ome evidence suggests that
elephants of western Africa are a separate species,
17>2
although this is disputed.
17&217*2
The pygmy
elephants of the 0ongo ;asin, which have been suggested to be a separate species (Loxodonta
pumilio) are probably forest elephants whose small si6e andMor early maturity are due to
environmental conditions.
17@2
Evolution and extinct relatives
-ver %:% e"tinct members and three ma+or evolutionary radiations of the order Proboscidea have
been recorded. The earliest proboscids, the African Eritherium and +hosphatherium of the
late Paleocene, heralded the first radiation.
1&(2
The Eocene included#umidotherium, )oeritherium and ,artherium from Africa. These animals
were relatively small and aKuatic. 9ater on, genera such as +hiomia and +alaeomastodon arose! the
latter li)ely inhabited forests and open woodlands. Proboscidean diversity declined during the
-ligocene.
1&%2
-ne notable species of this epoch was Eritreum melakeghebrekristosi of the Jorn of
Africa, which may have been an ancestor to several later species.
1&72
The beginning of
the #iocene saw the second diversification, with the appearance of the deinotheresand
the mammutids. The former were related to ,artherium, lived in Africa and Eurasia,
1&&2
while the
latter may have descended from Eritreum
1&72
and spread to 5orth America.
1&&2
#ounted s)eleton of early proboscid )oeritherium in Lapan
The second radiation was represented by the emergence of the gomphotheres in the #iocene,
1&&2
which li)ely evolved from Eritreum
1&72
and originated in Africa, spreading to every continent e"cept
Australia and Antarctica. #embers of this group included (omphotherium and +latbelodon.
1&&2
The
third radiation started in the late #iocene and led to the arrival of the elephantids, which descended
from, and slowly replaced, the gomphotheres.
1&$2
The African +rimelephas gomphotheroides gave rise
to Loxodonta, )ammuthus and Elephas. Loxodonta branched off earliest, around the #iocene
and Pliocene boundary, while )ammuthus and Elephas diverged later during the early
Pliocene. Loxodonta remained in Africa, while )ammuthus and Elephas spread to Eurasia, and the
former reached 5orth America. At the same time, the stegodontids, another proboscidean group
descended from gomphotheres, spread throughout Asia, including the 3ndian subcontinent, 0hina,
southeast Asia and Lapan. #ammutids continued to evolve into new species, such as the American
mastodon.
1&*2
<oolly mammoth model at the?oyal ;0 #useum, Nictoria, ;ritish 0olumbia
At the beginning of the Pleistocene, elephantids e"perienced a high rate of speciation. Loxodonta
atlantica became the most common species in northern and southern Africa but was replaced
by Elephas iolensis later in the Pleistocene. -nly when Elephas disappeared from Africa
did Loxodonta become dominant once again, this time in the form of the modern
species.Elephas diversified into new species in Asia, such as E. hsudricus and E. platcephus!
1&:2
the latter the li)ely ancestor of the modern Asian elephant.
1&'2
)ammuthus evolved into several
species, including the well-)nown woolly mammoth.
1&:2
3n the 9ate Pleistocene, most proboscidean
species vanished during the Ouaternary glaciation which )illed off *(P of genera weighing over * )g
(%% lb) worldwide.
1&>2
Proboscideans e"perienced several evolutionary trends, such as an increase in si6e, which led to
many giant species that stood up to $ m (%& ft) tall.
1&@2
As with other megaherbivores, including the
e"tinct sauropod dinosaurs, the large si6e of elephants li)ely developed to allow them to survive on
vegetation with low nutritional value.
1$(2
Their limbs grew longer and the feet shorter and broader.
Early proboscideans developed longer mandibles and smallercraniums, while more advanced ones
developed shorter mandibles, which shifted the head,s centre of gravity. The s)ull grew larger,
especially the cranium, while the nec) shortened to provide better support for the s)ull. The increase
in si6e led to the development and elongation of the mobile trun) to provide reach. The number
of premolars, incisors and canines decreased. The chee) teeth (molars and premolars) became
larger and more specialised. The upper second incisors grew into tus)s, which varied in shape from
straight, to curved (either upward or downward), to spiralled, dep