Latin name for the African Elephant is Loxodonta africana.
The elephant is the largest living land mammal, which lived
in every landmass except Australia and Antarctica. The two
still remaining species, the Indian elephant, which lives
in India and Southeast Asia, and the African elephant, inhabiting
south of the Sahara, and are now only restricted to tropical
forests, savannas, deserts, and river valleys.
The Indian elephant reaches heights of 3 meters and the African
elephant reaches heights 4 meters. Earlier elephants called
mammoths, mostly reaching heights of 4.5 meters, who lived
to the time of the Paleolithic man whose cave paintings gave
messages of the hunting methods, and the uses of the woolly
mammoths.
There are two different kinds of elephants that are the survivors
of a huge pattern of animals that were less thought of to
disappear. Although the two different species have much in
common they differ significantly in character and in form.
The trunk of an elephant is boneless, and is a muscular organ,
which has more muscles than a human hand. It is the most distinctive
feature of an elephant, it uses it to move grasses, leaves,
and water to the mouth. The trunk is also used to trumpet,
pull down trees which are in their way, and draw up dust for
dust bathing. It is the most sensitive organ in the elephants
body.
The elephant a land mammal is very similar to aquatic mammals.
It shares many features; amongst them is the elephant is fairly
hairless, except for a lump on its tail and sometimes a patch
of hair on the head. Some extinct forms, such as the mammoth
lived in sub-arctic environments therefore possessing hairy
coats, and the young elephants today are born covered with
yellow and brown hair, which is eventually shed. Elephants
have webbing between their toes.
The elephant is an excellent swimmer, and it was once thought
that elephants were able to swim to many different continents,
and that is the reason why elephants used to in past centuries
inhabit most places in the world. An elephant sheds tears
when emotionally disturbed. Elephants can easily be trained
to trumpet to order.
When a female has found a bull they separate from the herd
for several weeks. After a gestation period of 21 to 22 months,
a calf is born and is able to follow the herd within a few
days. When an elephant gives birth, another female elephant
known as the-mid wife stands by until the process
