Order Proboscidea: the

Elephants

One living Family, two living genera, 2 living species.

For most of our species-existence, most people have

lived with elephants. As we move through the 21st
century, this co-existence is becoming increasingly
difficult!
 The plan for the day:
Ancestry and evolution
Range and Status
Anatomy
Size
Legs
Trunk (including some weird speculation on evolutionary origins)
Tusks & skull
Cheek teeth
Basic ecology (eating even the worst plants)
Metabolism (be big)
Social organization (center on females)
Specifics on Asian elephants (including conservation)
Conservation of African elephants
 Ancestry and Evolution
Elephants should probably be considered part
of the Afrotheria. Closest living relatives are
seacows and hyraxes (see next slide).
Earliest proboscideans were tapir-like.
Evolutionary trends were deepening the teeth,
shortening skull, lengthening trunk and legs.
Elephas & Mammuthus evolved in Africa; they
were most modern elephants, invading Eurasia,
North America and finally South America.
Loxodonta, more primitive, survived in Africa.
They may not look like elephants, but

An ancient branch of the Afrotheria evolved to exploit low-

quality vegetation.
One twig of the branch became aquatic (seacows, upper left).
Another twig invaded xeric habitats (hyraxes; upper right;
once some types were much bigger).
The third twig exploited intermediate habitats and became
elephants.
New dates:
1 7.6MYBP Note the
complexity of
2 6.7MYBP
the
Proboscidean
tree.
2
1 Many
taxonomists
would show
Mammuthus
branching
even later
from Elephas.
Note that
Mammut,
Mammuthus,
and Stegodon
survived until
relatively
recent times.
 Range and status today
Loxodonta: Once pan-African, now intra-tropical.
In plains and savannas, African elephants are now largely
restricted to hunting preserves and national parks.
In thick forest, status less well known (but may be common).
Elephas: Once widely distributed from India
throughout continental S.E. Asia and into southern
China. Now very rare.
Working elephants in Myanmar; tourist elephants elsewhere.
Wild elephants in Indian national parks and a few are
widely scattered in some other national parks.
Almost everywhere they occur, elephants are often
considered more valuable (or less trouble) dead than
alive. Nowadays, people have the equipment to make
em that way.
 Dimensions of
Elephants
African elephant:
Shoulder height:
XX: 2.4-3.4m
XY: 3.0-4.0m
Mass:
XX: 2400-3500kg
XY: 4000-6300kg

Asian Elephant:
Shoulder ht: 2.5-3.0m
Mass: 3500-5000kg
Elephant legs are
graviportal.
Bones are large and
stacked.
Elephant walks on 5
toes & heel pad.
Elephants move long
distances for food,
for water, for sex,
maybe for fun.
Elephants dont run:
Typical elephant walk
is like brisk human
walk.
Fastest walk is like
top human sprint.
 Apparent paradox:
Evolutionary Short trunk is useless to
tall grazer
elongation of the Evolving structure must
be useful at all stages.
trunk Ancient elephants:
relatively short legs &
trunk that reached
ground.
Intermediate elephants:
longer legs, longer skull,
longer jaws, longer
trunk that reached
The conventional history of elephant
evolution: Terrestrial ancestor of ground.
Afrotherian megavertebrates gives rise then trunk stays on
to elephants, seacows, and hyraxes. the ground as skull and
The trunk of elephant ancestor
jaw shortened.
lengthens in accompaniment with
lengthening legs. But
 The structure of elephant lungs and
thoracic cavity suggests adaptation for
A Garrettian (= snorkeling.
wild-ass, Anatomical adaptations are numerous and
profound.
contrarian) These adaptations cannot easily be
accounted for by use of the trunk for
trunk-centered terrestrial drinking.
hypothesis on Did snorkeling adaptations occur early?
elephant Identical structures exist in Asian and African
elephants.
evolution Early snorkeling adaptations would
suggest that elephants evolved from
aquatic animals.
The logical candidate would be some
ancestor shared w/ seacows (conventional).
The question is, was that ancestor aquatic?
If so, the lengthening of the trunk might have
preceded the lengthening of the legs, which
would have occurred after an invasion of the
land, contrary to the conventional wisdom.
The snorkeling-elephant conundrum

(Note: Were talking about

systemic circulation to
parietal pleura; pulmonary
circulation is protected by
Zone 2 Phenomenon.)
Anatomy suggests The vulnerable pleural
membranes are replaced by
that snorkeling thick plates of dense
adaptations may connective tissue.
have been The pleural cavity itself is
fundamental. filled with loose connective
tissue.
The diaphragm is much
thicker than would be
expected for an animal of
elephant size.
All these adaptations (and
others) are observable early
Remember: The origin of
in embryonic development.
these adaptations must be But weve digressed long
more than 7.6MYBP.
enough; back to the trunk
 Uses of the trunk
As a tool
Grazing & browsing
Manipulating objects
Moving water
As a sense organ
Touch
Smell
As a social-signaling organ
A trumpet that amplifies vocalizations
A bearer of visual signals Tusks are next
A touch-communicator
Remember: The Evolution of tusks & skull
trunk helps
maintain contact Tusks are second upper
with the ground
as the legs
incisors. Tusks typically
lengthen. emerge in XY & XX African
but only in XY Asian adults.
Tusks utility and social
importance are enormous.
Evolutionary tendency for
skull to shorten & tusks to
lengthen.
The conservation
significance of tusks &
ivory.
Now: Other teeth
 Cheek teeth
Shredding in
living sps &
mammoths;
crush-grinding
in mastodons.
6 molarform
teeth per jaw-
Elephant or mammoth
Mastodon quadrant
1 functioning
tooth per
quadrant; loss
in front;
magazine
replacement
from rear (see
next 2 slides).
Not a member of the Elephantidae.
Elephant teeth & their replacement
To know about
elephant teeth is to
know about elephant
demography.
 Schedule of Tooth Replacement
Tooth M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6

Ages of 0-1 1-2 2-6 6-15 15-28 28-47

use,
African
years years years years years years

Ages of 0-1 1-6 6-8.5 8.5-22.5 22.5-40 40-70

use,
Asian
years years years years years years

Note: African-elephant data are from wild animals; Asian-elephant

data are from captive, working animals.
Next, ecology
 Basic ecological strategy
Elephants grow very large, thereby decreasing
surface-to-volume ratio.
This reduces per-kg thermoregulatory expenses and
therefore the amount of calories needed per kg body
mass. (See next slide for Kleiber Curve)
Vast variety of plants eaten (Kibale, Uganda: 227 of
255 known species) but most food is usually from few
species.
Absorptive efficiency is low, and elephants meet
minimal nutritional needs by eating large quantities of
OK food or vast quantities of wretched food.
Elephants have the capacity to alter an environment
and the mobility to move into a new area.
 Elephant Metabolism
(C is caloric expenses; M is Mass; & M are fitted constants)

Some general principles Some elephant specifics:

(Kleiber Curve): Small stomach, large
C = M caecum.
is always < 1 (0.75+/-) Feeding per day:
Now figure expense/size 10-18 hours
C/M = (M0.75)/M 150-250kg (c. 5% mass)
C/M = /M0.25 Throughput time c. 11-
That is, expenses per kg 26 hours.
decline with increases in Defecation per day: 150-
body size. 250kg
That is, elephants main Assimilation efficiency:
metabolic specialization Elephant: 44%
is to be BIG. Cow: 66%
 Social organization
(Most data are from African elephants.)
A baby elephant is born into a matriarchy after 21-
22mo. gestation. It receives much education, and
interbirth interval is typically 4-6 years.
For 1st 6months, baby is watched all the time.
Baby is weaned at 6-18 months (occasionally later).
Until its almost 10 years old, juvenile spends c. 50% of its
time within 5m of its mother (closer in moments of danger).
XXs stay in natal group, cementing relationships
w/mothers, grandmas, sisters, aunts, XX cousins.
Between ages 8-20yrs, XYs think increasingly of sex
& become such pests that XXs run them out of herd.
Thereafter they join bachelor society (next slide).
 The machismo of
bachelor society
Young males entering elephant
bachelor society learn their
places or else.
Size is the major factor in
establishing dominance.
Mutsch temporarily over-rides
other considerations.
Temporal glands drain, penis drips,
testosterone levels soar.
Temper, temper.
Skull structure cushions head-
bashing (pneumatic skull).
Use of tusks is dangerous.
Biggest XY occasionally return to
XX groups.
Now, back to the more important
considerations of XX groups!
Long-lasting female groups form the
nucleus around which all elephant
society is organized!
 Female groups & elephant commo
Oldest XX is matriarch
She knows the area & the elephants.
She outlives repro years (only elephants and people); why?
Interaction & commo holds group together
Lots of touching and signaling
Trunk-in-mouth greeting ceremony
Low-frequency sounds
Play builds tightest bonds among young XX cousins
Courtship can be dramatic
XX receptive for only a day or two (but she courts longer)
Many XYs may follow a receptive XX, but in a typical
elephant population, only a few become fathers.
The sociology and physiology of (African)
elephant ears: looking big and cooling off!
Elephant social
processes are
mediated by size.
Threat or dominance
position has ears
extended.
Ears also serve as
radiators.
Each is right triangle,
1.5mX2m; total
surface is 6m2, or
about 20% of total.
Mass of each ear is
about 20kg, or < 1%
of total.
Blood-flow through
ears can be > 1000
liters/hr.
Next: A little on the sociality of Asian elephants
A few social specifics
on Asian elephants

Lots like Loxodonta, but

havent shared common
ancestor for about 7.6MY
(people-chimps separation
is about 5MY.).
Are Asian XYs more
connected w/XX groups?
Its reported that Asian
XXs may form communal
nursery groups. (Is this
true? If so, does this occur
in African elephants too?).
Uh, how do you tell an Asian elephant
from an African elephant?
Well, if youre in
Africa.
Otherwise,
African has larger ears.
Asian has convex spinal
line; African has concave
spinal line.
Two-lip trunk in African
Even with elephant; Asian elephant
these babies, has single trunk-lip.
cant you tell Asian elephant usually
which is which? smaller.
African XX usually have
emergent tusks.
 A general note on S.E. Asian conservation
Although not particularly urban, S.E. Asia is
the most crowded area in the world.
Intensive agriculture covers almost every
available hectare of reasonably flat land.
Most vertebrate wildlife survives only in national
parks, many of which are also under threat.
In 1975, Vietnam was thought to have many
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of elephants.
Today population is probably < 100, in widely
separated small groups.
Elephants interfere with local people.
 Conservation of African elephants
The subject is much more complex than most
experts would like to admit!
Elephant demography makes harvest
potentially damaging to elephant populations.
Prior to international ivory ban (enforced by
1989), different countries had experienced
different results with their management plans.
Conservation decisions, which should have
been made on a biological basis, were driven
by largely political concerns.
The arrogance of the developed world was
demonstrated yet again.
Elephant Conservation? In January 2008 the Philadelphia Zoo
conservation: announced that it would breed its African elephants to
How does one help with species-conservation. The zoo also announced
the construction of a $27 million elephant exhibit. One
act responsibly baby might be produced by 2010. Meanwhile, RSA will
in a world of start killing thousands of elephants in May 2008, and the
limited per-capita income in Zimbabwe is < $1/day.

resources,
inequitably
distributed?

For 2010,
cut by 50%
The future of elephants
Elephants are not an
evolutionary dead-
end, not a taxon that
has outlived its
ecological capacity.
Elephants are smart,
adaptable, modern
and can live almost
anywhere on almost
any plant food.
BUT more than any
other large mammal,
elephants are efficient
competitors with
people!