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ORIGINS OF THE PROBOSCIDEA--ORDER OF MAMMALS TO WHICH THE ELEPHANT BELONGS PROBOSCIDEA pro•bos•cid•e•an or pro•bos•cid•i•an (prO"bu•sid'E•un, -bo-, prO•bos"i•dE'un) Defined as: belonging or pertaining to the Proboscidea, an order of massive tusked mammals with a flexible trunk and columnar legs, comprising the elephant and the now extinct mammoth and mastodon. Proboscidea originated in North Africa beginning with Moeritherium about 50 million years ago. They were found worldwide except in Australia, Anarctica and some islands. "Proboscidea" is of Greek origins. Pro = forward or in front of. Boskein means to feed or mouth. Evidence for a trunklike organ has been known since the "woolly mammoths" and in the living elephants. |
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Moeritherium Phiomia Palaeomastodon Gomphotherium Deinotherium Mastodon Mammuthus Loxodonta Africana Loxodonta Cyclotis Elephas Maximus
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The name for a number of prehistoric mammals of the extinct genus Mammut, from which modern elephants are believed to have developed. The earliest known forms lived in the Oligocene epoch in Africa. These were long-jawed mastodons about 4 1/2 ft (137 cm) high, with four tusks and a greatly elongated face. Their descendants in the Miocene epoch were the size of large elephants, the latest forms having long, flexible trunks, like those of elephants, and only two tusks. During Miocene times they spread over Europe, Asia, and North America. The mastodons were forest dwellers; they obtained their food by browsing and their teeth were more numerous and of a simpler form than those of the elephant. They were apparently extinct in the Old World by the early Pleistocene epoch but survived in North America until late Pleistocene times. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Proboscidae, family Mammutidae.
Mammoth
The name for several large prehistoric elephants of the extinct genus Mammuthus, which ranged over Eurasia and North America in the Pleistocene epoch. The shoulder height of the Siberian, or woolly, mammoth, which roamed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, was about 9 ft (2.7 m), and that of the imperial mammoth of the North American Great Plains was up to 13 1/2 ft (4.1 m). Mammoths were covered by a long, shaggy, black outer coat and a dense, woolly undercoat. They had complex, many-ridged molar teeth; long, slender upward-curved tusks; and a long trunk. Ivory hunters have collected their tusks for centuries in Siberia, where some 50,000 have been discovered; it is from these and from the drawings left by the Cro-Magnon people in the caves of S France that the mammoth's appearance is known. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) people hunted mammoths, as is evidenced by remains of the animals found together with tools, and may have contributed to their extinction. Mammoths are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Proboscidea, family Elephantidae.
Elephants:
Elephants are the only living representatives of their order, which was once widespread over most of the world; it included the mammoth and the mastodon. Elephants are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Proboscidae, family Elephantidae.
There are three species: the Asian elephant - Elephas maximus, found in India and SE Asia, the African savanna elephant - Loxodonta africana, found in Africa south of the Sahara and the African forest elephant - Loxodonta cyclotis, found in the equatorial forests of central and western Africa.
African bull savanna elephants may reach a shoulder height of 13 ft (4 m) and weigh 6 to 8 tons (5400–7200 kg). Loxodonta africana tusks are more than 10 ft (3 m) long and weigh up to 200 pounds (90 kg) each. Females are somewhat smaller and have more slender tusks. African elephants have enormous ears, measuring up to 42 in. (107 cm) in diameter. The long, conspicuously wrinkled trunk terminates in two fleshy, fingerlike protuberances, used for handling objects.
African forest elephants are smaller and stockier than savanna elephants. Forest elephant males usually get to be some 8 feet in height. The ears of Loxodonta cyclotis are rounded than Loxodonta africana. The tusks are straighter and thinner with a pinkish tinge to the ivory. The upper lip and nose are elongated into a dextrous trunk that is more hairy than that of the savannah elephant. The lower jaw of the forest elephant is longer, giving it a long, narrow face. Forest elephants also live in smaller family groups. Loxodonta cyclotis is also darker than Loxodonta africana.
The Indian bull elephant reaches about 9 ft (2.7 m) in shoulder height and weighs about 3.5 tons (3200 kg); its tusks are up to 6 ft (180 cm) long. The female of this species has no tusks. The ears of the Indian elephant are much smaller than in the African species, and the trunk somewhat shorter and smoother, ending in a single protuberance.
Elephants Are: The largest living land mammal, found in tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Elephants have massive bodies and heads, thick, pillarlike legs, and broad, short padded feet, with toes bearing heavy, hooflike nails. The gray skin is loose, tough, thick, and nearly hairless. The slender tail ends in a tuft of hair. The upper lip and nose are elongated into a flexible trunk, or proboscis, reaching nearly to the ground; this sensitive appendage is used for picking up food, feeding from trees and other sources and for drawing up water. Elephants drink by sucking water into the trunk and squirting it into the mouth; they also use the trunk to spray themselves with water and with dust. The trunk produces a variety of noises, including a loud trumpeting. The large, thin, floppy ears provide an extensive cooling surface; the animal flaps its ears vigorously when it is overheated. The upper incisor teeth are elongated into tusks—highly valued for their ivory—which the animal uses for digging up roots and tubers. A gland between the eye and the ear periodically produces an oily substance called musth; during these periods the animal is in an excitable, dangerous condition, also called musth, meaning madness. Such a condition occurs more often in males than in females and is thought to be a state of sexual excitement.
Elephants are: browsing animals, feeding on fruits, leaves, shoots, and tall grasses; they consume hundreds of pounds of food a day and drink up to 50 gal (190 liters) of water. They have no fixed living place, but travel about in herds of up to 100 animals, led by a young, strong male and including young bulls (males), cows (females), and calves. Old males are generally solitary or live in small groups. A rogue elephant is a solitary old male that has become violent and dangerous. During the mating season, elephant pairs may live away from the herd for a few weeks. A single calf is born after a gestation of 18 to 22 months and is nursed for 5 years. Elephants reach maturity at between 15 and 25 years of age; their lifespan is usually 60 or 70 years. Elephants walk at a pace of about 4 mi (6.4 km) per hr, but can charge at speeds of 30 mi (48 km) per hr. They cannot jump and so cannot pass barriers too wide or too high to step over; they swim well, however.
FAMILY LIFE
ELEPHANTS AND HUMANS
Elephants are regarded as among the most intelligent of mammals and can be trained to work and to perform. Indian elephants are extensively used as beasts of burden, especially in teak forests, where they carry logs with their trunks. They are not considered truly domesticated as they do not breed well in captivity. Young animals are captured from the wild. Training and handling take skill. Elephants have complex emotions and vary individually in temperament. African elephants are often said to be less tractable, but they too were formerly used for work, as well as for warfare. Hannibal's army crossed the Alps using African elephants, which were at that time probably found in the Atlas Mountains. Elephants seen in zoos and circuses are usually of the Indian species. Although the famous Jumbo, who toured the United States in the late 19th century giving rides to children, was an African elephant. In Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), albino elephants have long been held sacred. Elephants have been extensively hunted for food and for ivory. Their numbers are now greatly reduced. However, they are now afforded protection in certain areas.
IVORY
A type of dentin present only in the tusks of the elephant. Ivory was obtained mainly from Africa, where elephant tusks are larger than they are in Asia, the second major source, and much dead ivory was taken from remains of extinct mammoths found in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. African tusks of about 55 pounds (25 kg) each are common, although tusks of more than 200 pounds (91 kg) have been recorded. In commerce, ivory is classified as live (from recently killed animals) and dead (tusks long stored or on the ground for extended periods and lacking the resilience of live ivory). Ivory may be of a soft or hard variety; the former type is more moist, cracks less easily than the brittle hard ivory, and is easier to work. In the West, soft ivory, obtainable primarily from the eastern half of Africa, was preferred to the hard variety from W Africa. Green, or guinea, ivory denotes certain types of ivory obtained from a wide belt in north central Africa, from the east to the west coasts. At various periods in Africa, native peoples, Arabs, and European colonial powers dominated the trade (now banned) in ivory. Zanzibar, Antwerp, London, and Hong Kong have been major centers of ivory commerce. Natural substitutes (e.g., tagua, or vegetable ivory) for ivory or near equivalents have long been used. The tooth structure of many other animals, such as the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, sperm whale, and wild boar, is also often called ivory.
Uses of Ivory
Ivory is prized for its close-grained texture, adhesive hardness, mellow color, and pleasing smoothness. It may be painted or bleached, and is an excellent material for carving. Large surfaces suitable for veneer are obtained by cutting spiral sheets around the tusk. Commercial uses of ivory include the manufacture of piano and organ keys, billiard balls, handles, and minor objects of decorative value. In modern industry, ivory is used in the radar. Its use in art dates back to prehistoric times, when representations of animals were incised manufacture of electrical appliances, including specialized electrical equipment for airplanes and on tusks. Objects in ivory were created in ancient Egypt, Assyria, Crete, Mycenae, Greece, and Italy, and there are many Biblical references to its use at least from the time of Solomon. Large Greek statues, such as the Athena of Phidias, were made in gold and ivory (chryselephantine) and the Romans made lavish use of ivory in furniture, implements of war, and decorative items. A considerable number of diptychs and panels in ivory, given as gifts primarily by Roman consuls, still exist. Ivory plaques, diptychs, boxes, liturgical objects, book covers, and small statues were made in great numbers from early Christian times until c.1400, but the production of these objects declined thereafter. Ivory carving was practiced both in W Europe and in the Byzantine Empire. In India, ivory carving furniture, for small statues, and occasionally as a surface for miniature painting and turning has been done from ancient times. In China and Japan ivory has been used for inlay and small objects, especially for statues and carvings of small size and great precision and beauty of detail. In the last few centuries in Europe and North America, ivory has been employed to decorate.
The diminishing number of elephants, to a large extent the result of wholesale slaughter for tusks, and the resulting increased cost of ivory have encouraged the making of imitations and the use of natural substitutes. One strategy for controlling the slaughter of elephants for their ivory is to permit a regulated trade that would reduce poaching and provide profit to Africans, but not deplete the elephant population. Most recently, however, countries that supply and consume ivory have enacted a complete ban on ivory trade. A new method of determining the origin of a tusk by using DNA or radio isotopes will help zoologists to fight poaching.