To the untrained eye, African and Asian elephants can be
indistinguishable, but there are key physical features that make these
two species relatively easy to tell apart.
The most noticeable physical differences can be seen in the ears,
tusks and head shapes of the two species, according to The Elephant
Sanctuary, a natural-habitat refuge for endangered elephants located in
Hohenwald, Tenn.
African elephants have large ears, shaped much like the continent of
Africa itself. The larger surface area of their ears helps to keep
African elephants cool in the blazing African sun. Asian elephants have less to worry about heat-wise, as they tend to live in cool jungle areas, so their ears are smaller.
Asian and African elephants
have very distinct head shapes. African elephants have fuller, more
rounded heads, and the top of their head is a single dome. Asian
elephants have a twin domed head with an indent in the middle.
There's another thing sets them apart: Only male Asian elephants grow tusks and even then, not all males will have them. In African elephants, both sexes generally (but not always) exhibit tusks.
Beyond these larger, more noticeable details, there are many other,
smaller features that distinguish the two elephant species: number of
toenails, how wrinkled their skin is, the feel of their trunk, and even
the shape of their teeth.
Despite these physical differences, both species of elephant are very
similar socially. Both species of elephant are herd animals living
within defined social structures, according to the conservation group
WWF. The herds are usually led by the oldest female, and are made up of
her daughters, sisters and their offspring. Once they reach puberty,
male calves leave the mother's herd and join other young males in
bachelor groups. Older males tend to be solitary.
As Asian and African elephants do not come in contact in the wild,
there has only been one incident of cross-breeding between the two
species. In 1978, at the Chester Zoo in England, the Asian elephant cow
Sheba gave birth to a calf with an African elephant bull named
Jumbolino. Their calf was named Motty, who had features of both his
parents. Sadly he was premature and died of stomach complications two
weeks later, according to Dr. Derek Lyon, veterinarian in charge at
Chester Zoo during Motty's birth..
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