![]() Mastodons differed from mammoths in the shape of their teeth and the habitat they lived in: mammoths lived in much more open environments, like plains and steppes, whereas mastodons preferred more closed woodlands and wetlands. In North America around the same time, the American mastodon ( Mammut americanum) inhabited wetlands and scrubby forests from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico. Their populations declined as the ice age ended, and the added pressure of human hunting drove them to extinction. These shaggy, slope-backed animals roamed the tundra under the shadow of the polar glaciers, where they used their tusks to scrape away ice and tough, frozen soil to get at the buried vegetation. The most famous prehistoric elephant is the woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) of Ice Age Europe. During the Miocene, there were dozens of elephant species living all over the world, from the steaming wetlands of equatorial Asia to the icy tundra of northern Europe. His preserved body still stands in the rotunda of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, where he greets millions of visitors each year.Įlephants survive on a low-nutrient diet of grasses and mature leaves, which have to be digested for a long time to extract nutrients.īecause their diet is not very nutritious, they have to eat a lot: in zoos, elephants may eat as much as 500 pounds / 227 kg of hay in a single day.Įlephant Evolution & Prehistoric ElephantsĪn elephant’s body is a relic of the Miocene, the geologic period dominated by large mammals. His name was Henry and he lived in Angola, southwestern Africa. ![]() The largest elephant ever recorded was an African bush elephant that stood 13 feet / 3.96 meters at the shoulder, towering over ordinary elephants by several feet. The Asian elephant has much smaller ears, and the top of its head is bulbous compared to the flat-headed appearance of African elephants. Asian elephant and calfĪsian elephants stand about 9 feet / 2.74 meters at the shoulder, and have a very different appearance from their African cousins. The Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus) is smaller than the African bush elephant, but larger than the African forest elephant. 9980 kg… that’s 5 times the weight of a pickup truck, or almost 200 times the weight of an average human! African forest elephants are the smallest elephant species.Īfrican bush elephants can weigh as much as 22,000 lbs. Standing 10 feet / 3 meters at the shoulder, the African bush elephant dwarfs its close cousin, the 7-foot / 2.1-meter-tall African forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis). ![]() The African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana) is the largest living land animal. The elephant family also includes dozens of extinct species, such as the woolly mammoth and the North American mastodon. Elephants are known for their large size, trunks (an extension of the nose and upper lip) and tusks (modified teeth). There are three living species of elephant: The African bush elephant, African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. Let’s find out more about these (usually) gentle giants…Įlephants are mammals in the family Elephantidae, which consists of two main groups: Asian elephants (genus Elephas) and African elephants (genus Loxodonta). People travel halfway around the world just to be near them, and they feature prominently in the art and mythology of Africa and Asia. Whatever the reason, elephants are some of the most beloved of all animals. Maybe it’s their huge size, or the gentle intelligence in their eyes, or their slow, somber movements. Elephant Evolution & Prehistoric Elephantsįun Facts on Elephants: Introduction African bush elephant and calf.On this page you’ll find a collection of fun facts on elephants, along with pictures and interesting information on elephant species, ecology, life cycle, threats and conservation… ![]()
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