The trunk, or proboscis, of the elephant is one of the most versatile organs to have evolved among mammals.This structure is unique to members of the order Proboscidea, which includes the extinct mastodons and mammoths. Want to know more about elephants? A family is led by an older matriarch and typically includes three or four of her offspring and their young. In 2015, "Shooting an Elephant" was adapted into a short film by director Juan Pablo Rothie and Academy Award nominated writer Alec Sokolow. Silver Elephant Announces Filing of Technical Report for Pulacayo Project and Final Short-Form Prospectus for Previously Announced $8.0 Million Bought Deal Offering. This elephant has been terrorizing a … This “trunk-shake” can be compared to a human handshake in that it may be associated with similar functions such as assurance and greeting or as a way of assessing strength. These looser attachments allow the larynx a great degree of freedom and enable the formation of the pharyngeal pouch just behind the tongue. Abbreviations.com. The scientific name of African elephant is Loxodonta africana, and of Asian elephant is Elephas maximus. Asian elephants can live up to 80 years or longer; African elephants, 60-70 years. What does ELEPHANT stand for? Believed to be derived from an Afro-Asiatic form such as Proto-Berber *eḷu (“elephant”) (compare Tahaggart Tamahaq êlu, Tamasheq alu) or Egyptian ꜣbw (“elephant; ivory”). Anatomically, the trunk is a combination of the upper lip and nose; the nostrils are located at the tip. The trunk is also used to collect dust or grass for spraying onto themselves, presumably for protection against insect bites and the sun. Shooting an Elephant Summary. Soon, all the mice came and started nibbling the nets, and freed the elephants. At the beginning of the 21st century, fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants remained in the wild. The last molars can measure nearly 40 cm (almost 16 inches) long and weigh more than 5 kg (about 11 pounds). They are found most often in savannas, grasslands, and forests, but they occupy a wide range of habitats, including deserts, swamps, and highlands in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia. Elephants can produce a variety of other sounds by beating the trunk on hard ground, a tree, or even against their own tusks. The trunk is innervated by two proboscidean nerves, which render it extremely sensitive. Another possible function of the pouch is heat absorption, especially from the sensitive brain area above it. Elephants have a positive symbolic meaning all over the world and are considered a symbol of good luck, power, success wisdom and experience. The trunk is large and powerful, weighing about 130 kg (290 pounds) in an adult male and capable of lifting a load of about 250 kg. The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) weighs about 5,500 kg and has a shoulder height of up to 3.5 metres. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Check out our list of 115 elephants to learn more about these wonderful creatures! Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/animal/elephant-mammal, elephant - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), elephant - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). African elephants have two such extremities (one above and one below); Asian elephants have one. An adult elephant consumes about 100 kg (220 pounds) of food and 100 litres (26 gallons) of water per day. He later heard that the elephant took almost half an hour to pass away and villagers take the meal off its bone shortly after its death. In spoken English we use the short form a lot. In captivity, however, elephants tend to have a shorter life expectancy due to ailments caused by unnatural living conditions. Tusk size and shape are inherited. Three or four females, together with their young, congregate in herds of up to a dozen or so members, while males either live alone or form smaller herds with other males. Elephant Research Foundation. Low-frequency sound waves travel through the ground as well as the air, and results of experiments indicate that elephants can detect infrasonic calls as seismic waves. Elephants gestate for 18 to 22 months, which is the longest gestation period of any mammal. This structure is unique to members of the order Proboscidea, which includes the extinct mastodons and mammoths. Find more ways to say elephant, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. "ELEPHANT." Elephant definition, a very large herbivorous mammal of the family Elephantidae, the only extant family of proboscideans and comprising the genera Loxodonta (African elephants) and Elephus (Asian elephants): elephants of all species are characterized by a long, prehensile trunk formed of the nose and upper lip, pillarlike legs, and prominent tusks, which are possessed by both genders of Loxodonta and just the … The skin of the Indian elephant is lighter than that of the Sri Lankan elephant but darker than the Sumatran subspecies. Elephants live in a very structured social order. Elephant Evolution and Adaptation. Get instant explanation for any acronym or abbreviation that hits you anywhere on the web. In the African elephant both the male and the female possess tusks, whereas in the Asian elephant it is mainly the male that has tusks. 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 are herbivores: they eat a range of plants, including grasses, fruit, and roots. As it would be difficult to suck liquid from the stomach while running, the most likely explanation for the liquid’s source is the pharyngeal pouch. Form and function The trunk (proboscis). African elephants have much larger ears, which are used to dissipate body heat. elephant, largest living land mammal, found in tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Silver Elephant Announces Filing of Technical Report for Pulacayo Project in Bolivia and Preliminary Short-Form Prospectus for Previously Announced Bought Deal Offering Download as PDF Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States. Sometimes tooth loss is the cause of death, as it brings on starvation. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Breathing, drinking, and eating are all vital functions of the trunk. . Elephants have massive bodies and heads, thick, pillarlike legs, and broad, short padded feet, with toes bearing heavy, hooflike nails. George Orwell: Burmese Days This material remains under copyright and is reproduced by kind permission of the Orwell Estate and Penguin Books.. Asian and African elephants are listed as endangered species. The proboscis comprises 16 muscles. In addition, the sprayed liquid contains small food particles commonly found in the pharyngeal pouch, as opposed to digested food from the stomach. Shooting an Elephant. In the vast majority of mammals, the throat contains nine bones connected in a boxlike structure, the hyoid apparatus, that supports the tongue and the voice box. Updated April 2020. The film was shot entirely on location in Nepal starring Barry Sloane as Eric Blair. Learn more. A total of nearly 150,000 muscle fascicles have been counted in cross sections of trunk. 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