Elephant shrew, a relative of elephants Photo: AFP; afarensis. African Elephant Photo: Tierreich. Although the idea of the trunk being a common trait between shrews and elephants seems quite exciting, the fact that the two genera have trunks must be seen as pure coincidence.
The relationship between the species is not really close. Their last common ancestor most likely lived in the Upper Cretaceous period about 80 million years ago, and hence long before the dinosaurs died out. Although elephants and the water-dwelling sea cows Sirenia differ in terms of phenotype, late 19th century zoologists nevertheless assumed that sea cows or manatees were the closest relatives of elephants, along with dassies Hyracoidea.
Cape Hyrax Procavia capensis. Photo: Tierreich. Dugong, and manatees, belong to the Sirenia Photo: Tierreich. Modern molecular genetics data have confirmed that these three orders Sirenia, Hyracoidea, Proboscidea belonged to the paenungulates taxon and postulated a common ancestor in the oldest tertiary, the Paleocene.
However, researchers could not agree on the classification of another strange creature from Africa, the antbears or aardvarks Tubulidentata , pig-sized solitary animals who sleep in burrows by day and emerge to dig for termites after dark. Initially, the aardvark was seen as the only successor of ancient ungulates, but molecular and DNA analyses have grouped the animals as paenungulates. Because of their African origin, elephant shrews, aardvarks, hyraxes, tenrecs, elephants and manatees are all classified as Afrotheria.
Conservation groups and governments have worked to set aside land for wildlife— including corridors that connect those protected lands. Still, researchers believe that up to 70 percent of elephants' range is on unprotected land.
To curb poaching, stopping the illegal trade is key. Advocates have launched campaigns that address both the supply side poaching and the demand side people who buy ivory. Since the ban went into effect, public demand for ivory seems to have fallen. On the supply side, protecting elephants from poaching also requires a local approach. In , a study showed that the suffering of elephants is tied to that of the humans living nearby: Regions with high levels of poverty and corruption are more likely to have higher poaching rates.
This suggests that helping communities develop sustainable livelihoods could reduce the lure of poaching. Elephant family members show signs of grief and may revisit the bones of the deceased for years, touching them with their trunks. All rights reserved. Animals Photo Ark. African elephant. An African elephant photographed at Indianapolis Zoo in Indiana. Common Name: African elephants.
Scientific Name: Loxodonta. Type: Mammals. Diet: Herbivore. Group Name: Herd. Size: Height at the shoulder, 8. Weight: 2. Size relative to a 6-ft man:. Elephants recognize themselves in a mirror—something few animals are known to do. This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our photo community on Instagram. Follow us on Instagram at natgeoyourshot or visit us at natgeo.
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What's a giraffe's usual life span? And why are their tongues purple? The trunk of an elephant is a really long nose, but a whole lot more useful than ours is!
Elephant trunks have more than 40, muscles, which lets them do just about anything with their trunk," says Peter Wrege. By comparison, humans have about muscles in our whole body!
Our noses have just four muscle groups to help them function. But did you know that early elephant ancestors didn't have a trunk at all? Early elephants did have tusks, and one idea is that as tusks got longer, it was harder and harder for elephants to get their mouths to the ground to reach the grass. The trunk helped them to reach more food," according to Wrege. It also helps elephants eat more food in a shorter time. While they're chewing up a mouthful of grass or leaves, they're using their trunk to get the next bite.
It's purple, black and really long, 20 inches 50 centimeters. And if you watch them feeding, they wrap their tongues around the branches to drag off the leaves.
Many people think that it's purple, or really dark black, to protect it from the sun; just like you use sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun," says Steph Fennessy of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Another fun fact is that their saliva is anti-septic.
Read the full transcript. This episode features coloring pages by Barclay Tucker. Download and print the elephant and the giraffe. You can color as you listen!
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