Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea.

Two species
are traditionally 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. cyclotis respectively). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan
Africa, South Asia, andSoutheast Asia. Elephantidae are the only surviving family of the order
Proboscidea; other, now extinct, families of the order include mammoths and mastodons. Male
African elephants are the largest surviving terrestrial animals and can reach a height of 4 m (13 ft)
and weigh 7,000 kg (15,000 lb). All elephants have several distinctive features the most notable of
which is a long trunk or proboscis, used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water and
grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for
moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature.
Theirpillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave
backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
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 keystone
species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance,
predators such as lions, tigers, hyenas and wild dogs usually target only the young elephants (or
"calves"). Females ("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 known as
the matriarch, often the oldest cow. Elephants have a fission-fusion society in which multiple family
groups come together to socialise. Males ("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 looking
for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps
them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves 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 70 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 and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or
dead individuals of their kind.
African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN), while the Asian elephant is classed as endangered. One of the biggest threats to
elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. Other
threats to wild elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people. Elephants are
used as working animals in Asia. In the past they were used in war; today, they are often put on

display in zoos and circuses. Elephants are highly recognisable and have been featured in art,
folklore, religion, literature and popular culture.
Contents
[hide]

1 Etymology

2 Taxonomy
o

2.1 Classification, species and subspecies

2.2 Evolution and extinct relatives

2.2.1 Dwarf species

3 Anatomy and morphology

3.1 Ears

3.2 Trunk

3.3 Teeth

3.3.1 Tusks

3.4 Skin

3.5 Legs, locomotion and posture

3.6 Internal and sexual organs

4 Behaviour and life history

o

4.1 Ecology and activities

4.2 Social organisation

4.3 Sexual behaviour

4.3.1 Musth

4.3.2 Mating

4.4 Birthing and calves

4.5 Communication

4.6 Intelligence and cognition

5 Conservation issues
o

5.1 Status

5.2 Threats

6 Elephants and humans

o

6.1 Working animal

6.2 Warfare

6.3 Zoos and circuses

6.4 Disease transmission

6.5 Attacks

6.6 Cultural depictions

7 See also

8 References
8.1 Bibliography

9 Further reading

10 External links

Etymology
The word "elephant" is based on the Latin elephas (genitive elephantis) ("elephant"), which is
the Latinised form of the Greek (elephas) (genitive (elephantos)),[1] probably from
a non-Indo-European language, likely Phoenician.[2] It is attested inMycenaean Greek as e-repa and e-re-pa-to in Linear B syllabic script.[3][4] As in Mycenaean Greek, Homer used the Greek word
to mean ivory, but after the time of Herodotus, it also referred to the animal.[1] The word "elephant"
appears in Middle English asolyfaunt (c.1300) and was borrowed from Old French oliphant (12th
century).[2] In Swahili elephants are known as Ndovu or Tembo. In Sanskrit the elephant is
called hastin,[5] while in Hindi it is known as hth ().[6] Loxodonta, the generic name for the
African elephants, is Greek for "oblique-sided tooth".[7]

Taxonomy

Classification, species and subspecies

See also: List of elephant species

Asian elephant

Comparative 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 extant relatives are the sirenians (dugongs and manatees) and the hyraxes, with which
they share the cladePaenungulata within the superorder Afrotheria.[8] Elephants and sirenians are
further grouped in the clade Tethytheria.[9] Traditionally, two species of elephants are recognised;
the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Asian
elephant (Elephas maximus) of South and Southeast Asia. African elephants have larger ears, a
concave back, more wrinkled skin, a sloping abdomen and two finger-like extensions at the tip of the
trunk. 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 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 skin.[10] In general, African elephants are larger than their Asian cousins.
Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus first described the genus Elephas and an elephant from Sri
Lanka (then known as Ceylon) under the binomial Elephas maximus in 1758. In 1798, Georges

Cuvier classified the Indian elephantunder the binomial Elephas indicus. Dutch zoologist Coenraad
Jacob Temminck described the Sumatran elephant in 1847 under the binomial Elephas sumatranus.
English zoologist Frederick Nutter Chasen classified all three as subspecies of the Asian elephant in
1940.[11] Asian elephants vary geographically in their colour and amount of depigmentation. The Sri
Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) inhabits Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant (E. m. indicus)
is native to mainland Asia (on the Indian subcontinent and Indochina), and the Sumatran elephant
(E. m. sumatranus) is found in Sumatra.[10] One disputed subspecies, the Borneo elephant, lives in
northernBorneo and is smaller than all the other subspecies. It has larger ears, a longer tail, and
straighter tusks than the typical elephant. Sri Lankan zoologist Paules Edward Pieris
Deraniyagala described it in 1950 under thetrinomial Elephas maximus borneensis, taking as
his type an illustration in National Geographic.[12] It was subsequently subsumed under
either E. m. indicus or E. m. sumatranus. Results of a 2003 genetic analysis indicate its
ancestors separated from the mainland population about 300,000 years ago.[13] A 2008 study found
that Borneo elephants are not indigenous to the island but were brought there before 1521 by
the Sultan of Sulu from Java, where elephants are now extinct.[12]

African forest elephant

The African elephant was first named by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1797
as Elephas africana.[14] The genus Loxodonta was commonly believed to have been named by
Georges Cuvier in 1825. Cuvier spelled it Loxodonte and an anonymous author romanised the
spelling to Loxodonta; the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature recognises this as the
proper authority.[15] In 1942, 18 subspecies of African elephant were recognised by Henry Fairfield
Osborn, but further morphological data has reduced the number of classified subspecies, [16]and by
the 1990s, only two were recognised, the savannah or bush elephant (L. a. africana) and the forest
elephant (L. a. cyclotis);[17] the latter has smaller and more rounded ears and thinner and straighter
tusks, and is limited to the forested areas of western and Central Africa.[18] A 2000 study argued for
the elevation of the two forms into separate species (L. africana and L. cyclotisrespectively) based
on differences in skull morphology.[19] DNA studies published in 2001 and 2007 also suggested they

were distinct species,[20][21] while studies in 2002 and 2005 concluded that they were the same
species.[22][23] Further studies (2010 and 2011) have supported African savannah and forest elephants'
status as separate species.[24][25] As of 2011, the taxonomicdesignations of African elephants were still
debated.[25] The third edition of Mammal Species of the World lists the two forms as full species[15] and
does not list any subspecies in its entry forLoxodonta africana.[15] This approach is not taken by
the United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre nor by the
IUCN, both of which list L. cyclotis as a synonym of L. africana.[26][27] Some evidence suggests that
elephants of western Africa are a separate species,[28] although this is disputed.[23][25] The pygmy
elephants of the Congo Basin, which have been suggested to be a separate species (Loxodonta
pumilio) are probably forest elephants whose small size and/or early maturity are due to
environmental conditions.[29]

Evolution and extinct relatives

Over 161 extinct members and three major evolutionary radiations of the order Proboscidea have
been recorded. The earliest proboscids, the African Eritherium and Phosphatherium of the
late Paleocene, heralded the first radiation.
[30]

The Eocene includedNumidotherium, Moeritherium and Barytherium from Africa. These animals

were relatively small and aquatic. Later on, genera such as Phiomia and Palaeomastodon arose; the
latter likely inhabited forests and open woodlands. Proboscidean diversity declined during the
Oligocene.[31] One notable species of this epoch was Eritreum melakeghebrekristosi of the Horn of
Africa, which may have been an ancestor to several later species.[32] The beginning of
the Miocene saw the second diversification, with the appearance of the deinotheres and
the mammutids. The former were related to Barytherium, lived in Africa and Eurasia,[33] while the
latter may have descended from Eritreum[32] and spread to North America.[33]

Mounted skeleton of early proboscidMoeritherium in Japan

The second radiation was represented by the emergence of the gomphotheres in the Miocene,
[33]

which likely evolved from Eritreum[32] and originated in Africa, spreading to every continent except

Australia and Antarctica. Members of this group included Gomphotherium and Platybelodon.[33] The
third radiation started in the late Miocene and led to the arrival of the elephantids, which descended
from, and slowly replaced, the gomphotheres.[34]The African Primelephas gomphotheroides gave rise

to Loxodonta, Mammuthus and Elephas. Loxodonta branched off earliest, around the Miocene
and Pliocene boundary, while Mammuthus and Elephas diverged later during the early
Pliocene. Loxodonta remained in Africa, while Mammuthus and Elephas spread to Eurasia, and the
former reached North America. At the same time, the stegodontids, another proboscidean group
descended from gomphotheres, spread throughout Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, China,
southeast Asia and Japan. Mammutids continued to evolve into new species, such as the American
mastodon.[35]

Woolly mammoth model

At the beginning of the Pleistocene, elephantids experienced 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. Only 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. hysudricus and E. platycephus;
[36]

the latter the likely ancestor of the modern Asian elephant. [37] Mammuthus evolved into several

species, including the well-known woolly mammoth.[36] In the Late Pleistocene, most proboscidean
species vanished during the Quaternary glaciation which killed off 50% of genera weighing over 5 kg
(11 lb) worldwide.[38]
Proboscideans experienced several evolutionary trends, such as an increase in size, which led to
many giant species that stood up to 4 m (13 ft) tall.[39] As with other megaherbivores, including the
extinct sauropod dinosaurs, the large size of elephants likely developed to allow them to survive on
vegetation with low nutritional value.[40] Their limbs grew longer and the feet shorter and broader.
Early proboscideans developed longer mandibles and smaller craniums, while more advanced ones
developed shorter mandibles, which shifted the head's centre of gravity. The skull grew larger,
especially the cranium, while the neck shortened to provide better support for the skull. The increase
in size led to the development and elongation of the mobile trunk to provide reach. The number
of premolars, incisors and canines decreased.[39] The cheek teeth (molars and premolars) became
larger and more specialized, especially after elephants started to switch from C3-plants to C4grasses, which caused their teeth to undergo a three-fold increase in teeth height as well as

substantial multiplication of lamellae after about five million years ago. Only in the last million year or
so did they return to a diet mainly consisting of C3 trees and shrubs. [41][42] The upper second incisors
grew into tusks, which varied in shape from straight, to curved (either upward or downward), to
spiralled, depending on the species. Some proboscideans developed tusks from their lower incisors.
[39]

Elephants retain certain features from their aquatic ancestry such as their middle ear anatomy and

the internal testes of the males.[43]

There has been some debate over the relationship of Mammuthus to Loxodonta or Elephas.
Some DNA studies suggest Mammuthus is more closely related to the former,[44][45] while others point
to the latter.[9] However, analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome profile of the woolly
mammoth (sequenced in 2005) supports Mammuthus being more closely related to Elephas.[20][24]
[46]

Morphological evidence supports Mammuthus and Elephas as sister taxa, while comparisons

of protein albumin and collagen have concluded that all three genera are equally related to each
other.[47] Some scientists believe a cloned mammoth embryo could one day be implanted in an Asian
elephant's womb.[48]
Dwarf species
Main article: Dwarf elephant

Skeleton of a Cretan dwarf elephant

Several species of proboscideans lived on islands and experienced insular dwarfism. This occurred
primarily during the Pleistocene, when some elephant populations became isolated by fluctuating
sea levels, although dwarf elephants did exist earlier in the Pliocene. These elephants likely grew
smaller on islands due to a lack of large or viable predator populations and limited resources. By
contrast, small mammals such as rodents developgigantism in these conditions. Dwarf
proboscideans are known to have lived in Indonesia, the Channel Islands of California, and several
islands of the Mediterranean.[49]

Elephas celebensis of Sulawesi is believed to have descended from Elephas planifrons. Elephas
falconeri of Malta and Sicily was only 1 m (3 ft), and had probably evolved from the straight-tusked
elephant. Other descendants of the straight-tusked elephant existed in Cyprus. Dwarf elephants of
uncertain descent lived in Crete, Cyclades and Dodecanese, while dwarf mammoths are known to
have lived in Sardinia.[49] The Columbian mammothcolonised the Channel Islands and evolved into
the pygmy mammoth. This species reached a height of 1.21.8 m (46 ft) and weighed 200
2,000 kg (4404,410 lb). A population of small woolly mammoths survived onWrangel Island, now 87
miles north of the Siberian coast, as recently as 4,000 years ago. [49] After their discovery in 1993,
they were considered dwarf mammoths.[50] This classification has been re-evaluated and since the
Second International Mammoth Conference in 1999, these animals are no longer considered to be
true "dwarf mammoths".[51]