African and Asian

Elephants are large and gray and have big ears and long trunks, right? If all elephants seem the same to you, take a closer look.There are two different kinds of elephants: African and Asian. Here are a few ways to tell them apart.

African elephants Loxodonta africana— Have large ears that are shaped like the continent of Africa, both males and females have visible tusks, their skin is very wrinkly, their backs are swayed, and the end of their trunk works as if they have two fingers there to help them pick things up.

Asian elephants Elephas maximus— Have smaller ears, usually only the males have visible tusks, their skin is not as wrinkly, they only have one "finger" at the ends of their trunks, and their backs are dome-shaped.

All in the Family

Both African and Asian elephants live in close social groups called herds. A herd is usually made up of related females, called cows, and their offspring. The leader of the herd is called the matriarch. The matriarch is usually the oldest and most experienced female in the herd. She decides when and where the herd will eat, rest, and travel. Adult males, called bulls, don't live in a herd. Once male elephants become teenagers, they leave the herd. Only after they become adults will they visit other herds, and that is only for short periods of time to breed. Bulls do not take part in caring for the young.

Baby Elephant Walk

At birth, a baby elephant, called a calf, may stand three feet (one meter) tall. A calf is usually quite hairy with a long tail and a very short trunk. It uses its mouth to drink its mother's milk, so it doesn't need a long trunk to feed. Calves are clumsy at first with their trunks, but they learn to use them as they grow older.

Cool Ears

Elephants' ears are a little like air conditioners. As elephants flap their wet ears on a hot day, the blood flowing through the many blood vessels there is cooled. This in turn cools their large bodies.

Big Appetites

Wild elephants eat all types of vegetation, from grass and fruit to leaves and bark—about 220 to 440 pounds (100 to 200 kilograms) each day. The elephants at the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park eat less—about 125 pounds (57 kilograms) of food each day. Most of their diet is hay, herbivore pellets, and acacia browse. The elephants also drink about 30 gallons (113.5 liters) of water each day.

The Biggest of all

The largest elephant on record was an adult male African elephant. It weighed about 24,000 pounds (10,886 kilograms) and was 13 feet (3.96 meters) tall at the shoulder! Most elephants don't get that large, but African elephants grow larger than Asian elephants.

Thick Skin, Soft Heart

Pachyderm means "thick skin" and this term often refers to both elephants and hippopotamuses. An elephant's skin can be up to one inch (2.54 centimeters) thick on some parts of its body. Even though it's thick, an elephant's skin is also very sensitive. Elephants often spray themselves with water, or roll in the mud or dust for protection from sun and biting insects.

Tooth and Tusk

Tusks are an elephant's incisor teeth. They are used for defense, digging for water, and lifting things. Elephants also have four molars, one on the top and one on the bottom on both sides of the mouth. One molar can weigh about five pounds (2.27 kilograms) and is the size of a brick! Each elephant can go through six sets of molars in a lifetime. When elephants get old, their teeth are sensitive, so they prefer to eat softer food. Marshes are the perfect place for soft plant food, so old elephants are often found there. Many times they stay there until they die. This practice led some people to think that elephants went to special burial grounds to die.

A Unique Nose

An elephant's trunk is both an upper lip and a nose. A trunk has more than 40,000 muscles in it. That's more than a person has in his or her whole body! An elephant's trunk is so strong and agile, it can push down trees, or pick up a single piece of straw.