Elephant Scientific name: Loxodonta africana

ELEPHANT
Scientific name: Loxodonta africana
Elephants are the largest land animals now living.Elephants are a symbol of wisdom in Asian cultures and are famed for their memory and intelligence.
African elephants
Scientific name: Loxodonta
African elephants, are currently found in 37 countries in Africa.
African elephants are distinguished from Asian elephants in several ways, the most noticeable being their much larger ears. Also, the African elephant is typically larger than the Asian elephant and has a concave back. In Asian elephants, only males have tusks, but both males and females of African elephants have tusks and are usually less hairy than their Asian cousins.
Asian elephant
Scientific name:Elephas maximus
The Asian elephant, is smaller than the African. It has smaller ears, and typically, only the males have large external tusks.
The world population of Asian elephants—also called Indian elephants—is estimated to be around 60,000, about a tenth of the number of African elephants.
Range and habitat
Elephant were found throughout Asia and Africa.Because of their high intelligence level, elephants can adapt to and modify habitat, while their wide range of food choices permits habitation of a diverse range of ecosystems, including forest, woodland, savanna, grassy plains, swampy areas, and sparsely vegetated desert. Elephant were found throughout Asia and Africa.

Physical characteristics
Average shoulder height: Males - 3.5m; Females - 2.7m.
Weight: Males - up to 6 tons; Females - 2.7 tons.
Trunk
The elephant's nose and upper lip are elongated into a muscular, powerful trunk. This truly multi-purpose tool is powerful enough to uproot trees but dextrous enough that the two 'fingers' at its tip can pick up single seeds. Elephants can swim considerable distances and, in deeper water, will use their trunks like snorkels.

Tusks
The tusks are elongated upper incisor teeth and are not necessarily the same size. Some adults lack tusks and some have only one. Bulls typically have thicker, heavier tusks than females. Elephants will often uproot trees and then use their tusks to chisel the bark off.
Teeth
Elephants' teeth are very different from those of most other mammals. Over their lives they usually have 28 teeth. These are:
The two upper second incisors: these are the tusks.
The milk precursors of the tusks.
12 premolars, 3 in each side of each jaw.
12 molars, 3 in each side of each jaw.
Skin
Elephants are colloquially called pachyderms, which means thick-skinned animals. An elephant's skin is extremely tough around most parts of its body and measures about 2.5 centimetres (1.0 in) thick. However, the skin around the mouth and inside of the ear is considerably thinner. Normally, the skin of an Asian is covered with more hair than its African counterpart. This is most noticeable in the young. Asian calves are usually covered with a thick coat of brownish red fuzz. As they get older, this hair darkens and becomes more sparse, but it will always remain on their heads and tails.
The species of elephants are typically greyish in colour, but the Africans very often appear brown or reddish from wallowing in mud holes of colored soil.

Eyes and Ears
An elephant's eyes are small relative to the huge size of the animal. The ears are very large, flat and roughly the shape of the African continent, often with tears and holes in them. The ears are laden with blood vessels and when flapped, help bring down the huge beast's body temperature.

Feet and Tail
The front feet are roughly circular, with five blunt toenails; the hind feet are oval, with four blunt toenails. The soles are padded, allowing amazingly silent movement for such a large amimal. The tail is thin, up to 1.5 m long, and has a whisk of long, thick hairs at the end.
Intelligence
Elephant brains are larger than those of any other land animal. A wide variety of behaviours associated with intelligence have been attributed to elephants.The elephant's brain is similar to that of humans in terms of structure and complexity.
Senses
Elephants have well innervated trunks, and an exceptional sense of hearing and smell. The hearing receptors reside not only in ears, but also in trunks that are sensitive to vibrations, and most significantly feet, which have special receptors for low frequency sound and are exceptionally well innervated. Elephants communicate by sound over large distances of several kilometres partly through the ground, which is important for their social lives. Elephants are observed listening by putting trunks on the ground and carefully positioning their feet.
The eyesight of elephants is relatively poor.
Subspecies
Three species of elephant are living today:
The African bush elephant
The African forest elephant
The Asian elephant (also known as the Indian elephant).
All other species and genera of Elephantidae are extinct

Hunting and diet
Elephants are herbivores, and spend up to 16 hours a day eating plants. Their diets are highly variable, both seasonally and across habitats and regions. Elephants are primarily browsers, feeding on the leaves, bark, and fruits of trees and shrubs, but they may also eat considerable grasses and herbs.

Reproduction
A female will usually be ready to breed around the age of thirteen.Females prefer bigger, stronger, and, most importantly, older males. Such a reproductive strategy tends to increase their offspring's chances of survival.The mating season is short and females are only able to conceive for a few days each year. She will detach herself from the herd.Gestation period: 22 months. Elephants have a very long development. As is common with more intelligent species, they are born with fewer survival instincts than many other animals. Instead, they rely on their elders to teach them what they need to know.Single calves weighing 120kg are born throughout the year after a gestation of 22 months. Calves are weaned at 3-8 years, just before the birth of the next calf.
predatory
According to observations, healthy adult elephants have no natural predators, although lions may take calves or weak individuals. They are, however, threatened by human intrusion and poaching.

Life expectancy
They typically live for 50 to 70 years, but the oldest recorded elephant lived for 82 years.