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ELEPHANT

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 261 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ELEPHANT , the designation of the two existing representatives of the See also:

Proboscidea, a sub-See also:order of ungulate mammals, and also extended to include their more immediate See also:extinct relatives. As the distinctive characteristics of the sub-order, and also of the single existing genus Elephas, are given in the See also:article Pxonos-CIDEA, it will suffice to point out how the two existing See also:species are distinguished from one another. The more specialized of the two species is the See also:Indian or See also:Asiatic elephant, Elephas See also:maximus, specially characterized by the extreme complexity of the structure of its molar See also:teeth, which are composed of a See also:great number of tall and thin plates of See also:enamel and dentine,with the intervals filled by See also:cement (see PROBOSCIDEA, fig. I). The See also:average number of plates of the six successive molar teeth may be expressed by the " See also:ridge-See also:formula " 4, 8, 12, 12, 16, 24. The plates are compressed from before backwards, the anterior and posterior surfaces (as seen in the worn grindingface of the tooth) being nearly parallel. Ears of moderate See also:size. Upper margin of the end of the See also:proboscis See also:developed into a distinct See also:finger-like See also:process, much longer than the See also:lower margins, and the whole See also:trunk uniformly tapering and smooth. Five nails on the fore-feet, and four (occasionally five) on the See also:hind-feet. The Asiatic elephant inhabits the See also:forest-lands of See also:India, See also:Burma, the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula, See also:Cochin See also:China, See also:Ceylon and See also:Sumatra. Elephants from the last-named islands See also:present some See also:variations from those of the mainland, and have been separated under the names of E. zeylonicus and E. sumatranus, but they are not more than See also:local races, and the Ceylon See also:animal, which is generally tuskless, may be the typical E. maximus, in which See also:case the Indian See also:race will be E. maximus indicus. The See also:appearance of the Asiatic elephant is See also:familiar to all.

In the See also:

wild See also:state it is gregarious, associating in herds of ten, twenty or more individuals, and, though it may under certain circumstances become dangerous, it is generally inoffensive and even timid, fond of shade and solitude and the neighbourhood of See also:water. The height of the male at the See also:shoulder when full grown is usually from 8 to ro ft., occasionally as much as 11, and possibly even more. The See also:female is somewhat smaller. The following See also:epitome of the habits of the Asiatic elephants is extracted from Great and Small See also:Game of India and See also:Tibet, by R. Lydekker: " The structure of the teeth is sufficient to indicate that the See also:food consists chiefly of grass, leaves, succulent shoots and fruits; and this has been found by observation to be actually the case. In this respect the Asiatic species differs very widely from its See also:African relative, whose nutriment is largely composed of boughs and roots. Another difference between the two animals is to be found in the great intolerance of the See also:direct rays of the See also:sun displayed by the Asiatic species, which never voluntarily exposes itself to their See also:influence. Consequently, during the hot See also:season in Upper India, and at all times except during the rains in the more See also:southern districts, elephants keep much to the denser parts of the forests. In Southern India they delight in See also:hill-forest, where the undergrowth is largely formed of See also:bamboo, the See also:tender shoots of which See also:form a favourite delicacy; but during the rains they venture out to feed on the open grass tracts. Water is everywhere essential to their well-being; and no animals delight more thoroughly in a See also:bath. Nor are they afraid to venture out of their See also:depth, being excellent swimmers, and able, by means of their trunks, to breathe without difficulty when the entire See also:body is submerged. The herds, which are led by See also:females, appear in See also:general to be See also:family parties; and although commonly restricted to from See also:thirty to fifty, may occasionally include as many as one See also:hundred See also:head.

The old bulls are very generally solitary for a considerable portion of the See also:

year, but return to the herds during the pairing season. Some ` See also:rogue ' elephantsgunda of the natives—remain, however, permanently separated from the See also:rest of their See also:kind. All such solitary bulls, as their colloquial name indicates, are of a spiteful disposition; and it appears that with the See also:majority the inducement to live apart is due to their partiality for cultivated crops, into which the more timid females are afraid to venture. ` Must ' elephants are See also:males in a See also:condition of—probably sexual—excitement, when an abundant See also:discharge of dark oily See also:matter exudes from two pores in the forehead. In addition to various sounds produced at other times, an elephant when about to See also:charge gives vent to a shrill loud `See also:trumpet'; and on such occasions rushes on its Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus). adversary with its trunk safely rolled up out of danger, endeavouring either to See also:pin him to the ground with its tusks (if a male tusker) or to trample him to See also:death beneath its ponderous knees or feet." Exact See also:information in regard to the See also:period of gestation of the female is still lacking, the length of the period being given from eighteen to twenty-two months by different authorities. The native See also:idea, which may be true, is that the shorter period occurs in the case of female and the longer in that of male calves. In India elephants seldom breed in captivity, though they do so more frequently in Burma and See also:Siam; the domesticated stock is there-fore replenished by fresh captures. Occasionally two calves are produced at a See also:birth, although the normal number is one. Calves suckle with their mouths and not with their trunks. Unlike the African species, the Indian elephant charges with its trunk curled up, and consequently in silence. As regards their present See also:distribution in India, elephants are found along the See also:foot of the See also:Himalaya as far See also:west as the valley of See also:Dehra-Dun, where the See also:winter temperature falls to a comparatively See also:low point.

A favourite haunt used to be the swamp of Azufghur, lying among the sal-forests to the northward of See also:

Meerut. In the great See also:tract of forest between the See also:Ganges and See also:Kistna See also:rivers they occur locally as far west as See also:Bilaspur and See also:Mandla; they are met with in the Western See also:Ghats as far See also:north as between See also:latitude 17° and 18°, and are likewise found in the hill- forests of See also:Mysore, as well as still farther See also:south. In this See also:part of the peninsula they ascend the hills to a considerable height, as they do in the Newara Eliya See also:district of Ceylon, where they have been encountered at an See also:elevation of over 7000 ft. There is See also:evidence that about three centuries ago elephants wandered in the forests of See also:Malwa and See also:Nimar, while they survived to a later date in the See also:Chanda district of the Central Provinces. At the comparatively remote See also:epoch when the See also:Deccan was a forest tract, they were probably also met with there, but the swamps of the See also:Bengal See also:Sundarbans appear unsuited to their habits. Of tusks, the three longest specimens on See also:record respectively measure 8 ft. 9 in., 8 ft. 2 in. and 8 ft.; their respective weights being 81, 8o and 90 lb. These are, however, by no means the heaviest—one, whose length is 7 ft. 3e in., weighing 102 lb; while a second, of which the length is 7 ft. 34 in., scaled 971 lb. Of the largest pair in the See also:possession of the See also:British Museum, which belonged to an elephant killed in 1866 by See also:Colonel G.

M. See also:

Payne in See also:Madras, one tusk See also:measures 6 ft. 8 in. in length, and weighs 77i lb, the other being somewhat smaller. It should be added that some of these large tusks came from Ceylon; such tuskers being believed to be descended from mainland animals imported into the See also:island. "See also:White" elephants are partial or See also:complete albinos, and are far from uncommon in Burma and Siam. See also:Young Indian elephants are hairy, thus showing See also:affinity with the See also:mammoth. The African elephant is a very different animal from its Asiatic See also:cousin, both as regards structure and habits; and were itnot for the existence of intermediate extinct species, might well be regarded as the representative of a distinct genus. Among its characteristics the following points are noticeable. The molar teeth are of coarse construction, with fewer and larger plates and thicker enamel; the ridge-formula being 3, 6, 7, 7, 8,, ro; while the plates are not flattened, but thicker in the See also:middle than at the edges, so that their worn grinding-surfaces are See also:lozenge-shaped. Ears very large. The upper and lower margins of the end of the trunk form two nearly equal prehensile lips. Only three toes on the hind-foot.

A very important distinction is to be found in the conformation of the trunk, which, as shown in fig. 2, looks as though composed of a number of segments, gradually decreasing in size from See also:

base to tip like the See also:joints of a See also:telescope, instead of tapering gradually and evenly from one extremity to the other. The females have relatively large tusks, which are essential in obtaining their food. Except where exterminated by human agency (and this has been accomplished to a deplorable extent), the African elephant is a native of the wooded districts of the whole of See also:Africa south of the See also:Sahara. It is hunted chiefly for the See also:sake of the See also:ivory of its immense tusks, of which it yields the See also:principal source of See also:supply, to the See also:European See also:market, and the See also:desire to obtain which is rapidly leading to the extermination of the species. In size the male African elephant often surpasses the Asiatic species, reaching nearly 12 ft. in some cases. The circumference of the fore-foot is See also:half the height at the shoulder, a circumstance which enables sportsmen to estimate approximately the size of their See also:quarry. A tusk in the British Museum measures ro ft. 2 in. in length, with a basal girth of 24 in. and a See also:weight of 2262 lb; but a still longer, although lighter, tusk was brought to See also:London in 1905. Several local races of African elephant have been described, mainly distinguished from one another by the form and size of the ears, shape of the head, &c. The most interesting of these is the pigmy See also:Congo race, E. See also:africanus pumilio, named on the evidence of an immature specimen in the possession of C. See also:Hagen-See also:beck, the well-known animal-dealer of See also:Hamburg, in 1905.

According to See also:

Hagenbeck's estimate, this elephant, which came from the See also:French Congo, was about six years old at the See also:time it came under scientific See also:notice. Moreover, in the See also:opinion of the same observer, it is in no See also:wise an abnormally dwarfed or See also:ill-grown representative of the normal type of African elephant, but a well-developed adolescent animal. In height it stood about the same as a young individual of the See also:ordinary African elephant when about a year and a half old, the See also:vertical measurement at the shoulder being only 4 ft., or merely a foot higher than a new-See also:born Indian elephant. Hagenbeck's estimate of its See also:age was based on the presence of well-developed tusks, and the relative proportion of the fore and hind limbs, which are stated to show considerable See also:differences in the case of the African elephant according to age. Nothing was stated as to the See also:probability of an increase in the stature of the French Congo animal as it grows older; but even if we allow another foot, its height would be considerably less than half that of a large Central African See also:bull of the ordinary elephant. By Dr See also:Paul Matschie several races of the African elephant have been described, mainly, as already mentioned, on certain differences in the shape of the See also:ear. From the two West African races (E. a. cyclotis and E. a. oxyotis) the See also:dwarf Congo elephant is stated to be distinguished by the shape of its ear; comparison in at least one instance having been made with an immature animal. The relatively small size of the ear is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the dwarf race. Further, the skin is stated to be much less rough, with fewer cracks, while a more important difference occurs in the trunk, which lacks the trans-See also:verse ridges so distinctive of the ordinary African elephant, and thereby approximates to the Asiatic species. If the differences in stature and form are See also:constant, there can be no question as to the right of the dwarf Congo elephant to See also:rank as a well-marked local race; the only point for See also:consideration being whether it should not be called a species. The great See also:interest in connexion with a dwarf West African race of elephant is in relation to the fossil pigmy elephants of the See also:limestone fissures and caves of See also:Malta and See also:Cyprus. Although some of these elephants are believed not to have been larger than donkeys, the height of others may be estimated at from 4 to 5 ft., or practically the same as that of the dwarf Congo race.

By their describers, the dwarf European elephants were regarded as distinct species, under the names of Elephas melitensis, E. mnaidriensis and E. cypriotes; but since t_ See also:

left molar teeth are essentially miniatures of those of the African elephant, it has been suggested by later observers that these animals are nothing more than dwarf races of the latter. This view may receive some sup-See also:port from the occurrence of a dwarf form of the African elephant in the Congo; and if we regard the latter as a subspecies of Elephas africanus, it seems highly probable that a similar position will have to be assigned to the pigmy European fossil elephants. If, on the other See also:hand, the dwarf Congo elephant be regarded as a species, then the Maltese and See also:Cyprian elephants may have to be classed as races of Elephas pumilio; or, rather, E. pumilio will have to rank as a race of the Maltese species. In this connexion it is of interest to See also:note that, both in the Mediterranean islands and in West Africa, dwarf elephants of the African type are accompanied by pigmy species of See also:hippopotamus, although we have not yet evidence to show that in Africa the two animals occupy actually the same See also:area. Still, the See also:close relationship of the existing Liberian pigmy hippopotamus to the fossil Mediterranean species is significant, in relation to the foregoing observations on the elephant. It may be added that fossil remains of the African elephant have been obtained from See also:Spain, .See also:Sicily, See also:Algeria and See also:Egypt, in strata of the See also:Pleistocene age. Some of the See also:main differences in the habits of the African as distinct from those of the Asiatic elephant have been mentioned under the heading of the latter species. The most important of these are the greater tolerance by the African animal of sunlight, and the hard nature of its food, which consists chiefly of boughs and roots. The latter are dug up with the tusks; the left one being generally employed in this service, and thus becoming much more worn than its See also:fellow. (R.

End of Article: ELEPHANT

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ELEPHANTA ISLE (called by the natives Gharapuri)

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