Elephants - Pictures

Elephants Pictures

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Elephants - Pictures - Evolution

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The primitive ancestor of modern Elephants appeared during the Eocene Period about 45-55 million years ago. The first Elephant, called Moeritherium was different from the Elephants of the present time. These animals had no trunk and were up to two feet tall.

Later, the climate on the earth gradually became colder and the descendants of Moeritherium grew large and developed special adaptations. Their upper lip and nose formed a trunk that makes Elephants unique nowadays. The appearance of trunk and tusks took many generations. Scientists differentiate more than 150 species of Elephants, which lived on our planet. The most famous of them are extinct mammoth and mastodons. Nowadays there are only two surviving species of Elephants. Some scientists believe that there is a third species of Elephants.

Scientific name: Loxodonta africana for African Elephants and Elephas maximus for Asian Elephants.

Elephants - Pictures - Description

Elephants are the largest animals that live on land. There exist two types of these animals: African and Asian. They differ much in size and body structure. African Elephants are from 10 to 13 feet high and weigh between 8,000 and 16,000 pounds; their large ears are fan-shaped and cover the shoulders. Their Asian relatives are from 7 to 12 feet at the shoulders and weigh only up to 11,000 pounds; their ears are small and straight at the bottom. Asian Elephants live in cooler areas, so they don't need very large ears. Another difference is in the skin of these animals. African species has very wrinkled skin and a sway back; the skin of the Asian Elephants is smooth and the back is rounded.