Elephant a largest animal on this world
Elephants are the largest land mammals on earth. Elephants are one of the most beloved animals in zoos and the world. You can see them in zoos and safaris. Elephant conservation is more important than ever! Elephants play an important role in their ecosystems. They dig holes for water, and as a result, this helps provide water for other animals. Elephants eat a lot during the day, and when they eat vegetation, it allows for new plants to grow and expand.
They have massive bodies, large ears, and long trunks. Elephants belong to the family Elephantidae. They use their trunks to pick up objects ,Their trunk weighs 400 pounds but elephants can pick up objects as small as a single grain of rice. They use their trunk to suck up water for drinking or bathing, among other uses. Elephant trunks have multiple functions, including breathing, olfaction, touching, grasping, and sound production. The trunk's ability to make powerful twisting and coiling movements allows it to collect food, wrestle with other elephants, and lift up to 350 kg. An adult Asian elephant is capable of holding 8.5 L of water in its trunk. They will also spray dust or grass on themselves.
When underwater, the elephant uses its trunk as a snorkel. Elephants use the trunk like a hand in other ways as well. When elephants meet, one may touch the face of the other, or they will intertwine trunks. This “trunk-shake” can be compared to a human handshake. Breathing, drinking, and eating are all vital functions of the trunk. Elephants drink by sucking as much as 10 litres (2.6 gallons) of water into the trunk and then squirting it into the mouth. They eat by detaching grasses, leaves, and fruit with the end of the trunk and using it to place this vegetation into the mouth.
Elephants usually have 26 teeth, known as the tusks. Their teeth consist of 12 deciduous premolars, and 12 molars. Unlike most mammals, which grow baby teeth and then replace them with a single permanent set of adult teeth. Teeth are not replaced by new ones emerging from the jaws vertically as in most mammals. Instead, new teeth grow in at the back of the mouth and move forward to push out the old ones. The first chewing tooth on each side of the jaw falls out when the elephant is two to three years old. The second set of chewing teeth falls out at four to six years old. The third set falls out at 9–15 years of age and set four lasts until 18–28 years of age. The fifth set of teeth falls out at the early 40s. The sixth (and usually final) set must last the elephant the rest of its life.
The skeleton of the elephant is made up of 326–351 bones. The vertebrae are connected by tight joints, which limit the backbone's flexibility. African elephants have 21 pairs of ribs, while Asian elephants have 19 or 20 pairs. Elephants are considered dichromats and they can see well in dim light but not in bright light.
Species
Three species of elephants are recognised; the African bush elephant and forest elephant of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Asian elephant.
African elephant
African savanna elephants have larger ears, a concave back, more wrinkled skin, a sloping abdomen, and two finger-like extensions at the tip of the trunk. African elephants have much larger ears, which are used to dissipate body heat.The African savanna, or bush, elephant weighs up to 8,000 kg (9 tons) and stands 3 to 4 metres (10 to 13 feet) at the shoulder.
Asian elephant
Asian elephants have smaller ears, a convex or level back, smoother skin, a horizontal abdomen that occasionally sags in the middle and one extension at the tip of the trunk. The Asian elephant also has dorsal bumps on its head and some patches of depigmentation on its skin. The Asian elephant weighs about 5,500 kg and has a shoulder height of up to 3.5 metres. The Asian elephant includes three subspecies: the Indian, or mainland , the Sumatran , and the Sri Lankan.
Forest elephant
Forest elephants have smaller and more rounded ears and thinner and straighter tusks than bush elephants and are limited in range to the forested areas of western and Central Africa. The African forest elephant , which lives in rainforests, was recognized as a separate species in 2000 and is smaller than the savanna elephant. It has slender, downward-pointing tusks.
Tusks and molars
Both male and female African elephants have tusks that grow from deciduous teeth called tushes, which are replaced by tusks when calves are about one year old. Tusks are primarily used to dig for roots and strip the bark from trees for food, for fighting each other during mating season, and for defending themselves against predators. The tusks weigh from 23 to 45 kg.
Development or gestation
Female elephants are able to start reproducing at around 10 to 12 years of age.
Elephants have the longest gestation period of any mammal, with each elephant species having a gestation period of roughly 22 months. Elephants are the largest land mammal on Earth, their calves are born at about 200 pounds.
At around day 100, the head makes up half of the length of the calf, and the toes can be discerned on all four limbs. Later on, by day 120, the trunk of an African calf has the two lip-like protrusions seen in adults. Males usually stay with a female and her herd for about a month before moving on in search of another mate.
elephants are very slow reproducers. When they do get pregnant, they go through a gestation period that is 22 months long, and elephant mother for about two years after baby or calf. This means that female elephants can usually have only one baby every four years. For the first 3 months, the calves only drink their mother’s milk and start to graze after. However, calves may be weaned by their mother until the age of 4 years.
Foods or diet
An elephant can feed up to 18 hours and consume hundreds of pounds of plant matter in a single day. Elephants eat between 149 and 169 kg (330-375 lb.) of vegetation daily. Tree bark is a favorite food source for elephants. It contains calcium and roughage, which aids digestion. Tusks are used to carve into the trunk and tear off strips of bark. Elephants eat mostly grass, tree leaves, flowers, wild fruits, twigs, shrubs, bamboo , and bananas . Their main food is grass when it's available, along with some leaves. They consume almost each part of the plant including twigs, bark, leaves, shoots, flowers, tubers, branches, fruit, bulbs, and roots. Elephants are normally mixed feeders as they feed on many different plants. Elephants are dominant in regions where they live. They have got the habit of destroying trees.
Life span (HOW LONG ELEPHANTS LIVE)
Average life span of an elephant is about 50 to 70 years. Like human beings, their ages also vary according to living conditions and species. Wild Elephants of Africa and Asia have an average age of 60 to 70 years, depending on the species.
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