The elephants
Elephants are the largest living terrestrial animals.
African bush elephants are the largest species with males being typically 3.20m
tall at the shoulder and 6000kg.while females stand at 2.60 m tall and with a
body mass of 3000kg. an elephants skull is enough is resilient enough is strong
enough to withstand forces generated by the tusk. The back of the skull is
flattened and spread out creating arches that protect the brain in every direction. The skull contains air
cavities that reduces the size of the skull enhancing stability. Elephant ears
have thick bases with thin tips. This helps it to release body temperature to
the surrounding environment of all the elephants ,the African bush elephants
live in the hottest environment and have the largest ear flaps elephants are
able to hear very low frequencies.The trunk of the elephant is a fusion of the
nose and upper lip. The trunk is elongated to become the most important
versatile appendage. Elephants trunks have multiple purposes including
breathing, touching, grasping and sound production the animals sense of smell
may be 4 times as sensitive of that of a bloodhound. The tanks ability to make
very powerful twisting and coiling
movements allows it to collect food wrestle with
other elephants and lift up to 350kg of weight.it can also be used for delicate
tasks such as cracking nuts without breaking the seed. Elephants can suck water
both to drink and to spray to their bodies. They will also spray dust to
themselves.theatrical elephant has four figures extension at the tip of the
trunk that allows it to grasp food and allow them to bring their meals close to
the mouth. The elephant’s skin is generally very thick skin of about
2.cm.normally the skin of Asian elephants is covered with more hair than its counterpart
African bush elephant.an elephant uses mud as the sunscreen protecting the skin
from ultra violet rays. Although it’s tough, an elephant’s skin is very
sensitive without regular mud baths to protect it from burning, insect bite
moisture loss.in locomotion, to support the animal’s weight, an elephants limbs
are positioned more vertically under the body. Elephants can move both forward
and backward but cannot trot or jump. Elephants are capable swimmers. They have
been recorded to swim up to six hours. Without touching the bottom and have traveled as far as 48km and at speeds of 2.1km per hour. The brain of an
elephant weighs up to 5kg.the heart of the elephant weighs up to 21kg. An African
bush elephant can be found in habitats as diverse as dry savannas. Forest
elephants mainly live in the equatorial forests.
African elephants are normally
browsers while the Asian counterparts are grazers. Because of their large size
elephants have huge impact the surrounding environment. Their habit of
uprooting trees can transform a savanna into a grassland. They create
waterholes that can be used by other animals. Elephants peacefully co-exist
with other herbivores in the natural environment. Female elephants spent their
lives in families consisting of three mothers and offspring's and are led by a
matriarch which is often the eldest female
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