The ELEPHANT (PROBOSCIDAE)

In Africa, there is only one species: the African Elephant

• the largest living land mammal, the body size is continually increasing with age
• specialised system for crushing coarse vegetable matter is formed by the skull, jaws and molar teeth
• the large skull is disproportionate to the brain size but it is to carry and support the trunk and the heavy dental structure.
• light skull due to air cell and cavities within skull
• skin varies in thickness over the body and sparsely covered with hair
• the tusks: elongated upper incisor teeth, consist of dentine, cartilaginous material and calcium salts; used for defence, prying bark off trees, dig roots and pull grass
• the trunk: sucking up water and transferring into mouth, caressing each other, squirting water, throwing dust, amplification of sound production. The top lip and nose are fused and form the trunk. The trunk is a hydrostatic skeleton consisting of thousand of muscles that may be contracted and released depending on the function.
• large ears to increase body surface area and thus aid in the rate of heat loss. The ears have a large number of blood vessels that cause the blood to cool down when ears are moved back and forwards in a fan like movement.
• the foot structure is between plantigrade and digitigrade
• they are near ungulates, have hooves but toenails
• they are pentadactyls