Reading time: 7 mins read. By using their trunks as modified snorkels, elephants can dive underwater and swim surprisingly long distances while completely submerged. The study found elephants use their huge lungs and also increase the diameter (width) of their nasal passages. 100% Upvoted. Elephants are susceptible to some diseases spread by mosquitoes and to some inflictions that affect . That about equals how much can spray out of 24 shower heads at once. The elephant's trunk is a upper lip and a nose. Elephants can breathe in about 30 times faster than humans breathe out when they sneeze. Their trunks can suck and store about two gallons of water. What common elephant myths/ misconceptions do you hear? Elephants do not tire easily when swimming, but if they do, they will just rest in the water for some time. How many bones do elephants have in their trunk? Made almost entirely of muscle, elephant trunks can lift hundreds of pounds, suck up gallons of water, and sniff out landmines. 9-10 feet. I think no. Elephants generally drink water using their trunk. "Elephants can move their trunks in four different ways," says Andrew Schulz, the study's lead researcher . To smell things that are far away: Elephants are great at sniffing things out, and they can even smell water 19 km away. roots, fruit and bark. If a river crossing is in order, the trunk comes to the rescue once again. 7 feet tall. The scientists tested how quickly an elephant can suck water into its trunk. To dig the ground for food, water and salt. I know that elephants won't eat, drink or vomit through their trunks. The word "elephant" is based on the Latin elephas (genitive elephantis) ("elephant"), which is the Latinised form of the Greek (elephas) (genitive (elephantos), probably from a non-Indo-European language, likely Phoenician. Lighter skin patches are most commonly found on the ears, trunk, and head. The mothers are extremely affectionate towards their calves. A Mammoth Mitten A. As weapon to protect against attackers or predators. People assume that elephants are noisy, but they sometimes make sounds we can't hear. "Elephants will use their tusks, their feet, and their trunks to dig 'wallows' that will fill with water from rainfall or from groundwater, and these waterholes become water sources for not . 300. It is a long, prehensile tube with two nostrils running down the centre and a mass of flesh, muscle, fat, nerves blood and connective tissue that can weigh up to 140kgs. The trunk of an elephant is a muscular, flexible extension this mammal's upper lip and nose. Elephants make joints with their trunks to press down on and scoop up food. 300. The trunk is both an upper lip and a nose, with two nostrils running through the whole thing. Then, can elephants be sick? An elephant's trunk consists of over 100,000 muscles and tendons. (136 kg) of food in a day, according to the National . How long is the trunk? They found that in just 1.5 seconds, an elephant can suck up nearly 1.5 gallons (5.5 liters) of water. They will also produce loud chirping sounds to scare their predators. Keeping forests healthy ensures trees will continue to store carbon in their trunks, roots and soils, which in turn helps reduce the effects of climate change. Elephants have a stronger sense of smell than any other animal scientists have studied, and can even sniff out landmines in . Quick Facts. At the trunk's tip, African elephant have two fingers while Asian elephants have one. And the research shows that elephants use several tech niques to move things. Their face will stay above the surface while their mouths are submerged. A baby elephant is called a calf. Scientists have documented lower tree diversity in forests that have lost elephants, meaning a less healthy and resilient forest. Elephants and their trunks are outliers. An adult male can lift more than 400 pounds and reach branches 20 feet high. 21 September 2021. Elephants have a fantastic sense of touch, thanks to their trunk. For elephants, the trunk is the same as a nose is to most animals. The elephants do this by sucking up the water in their trunks first and then transferring it to their mouths. Elephants' nostrils can expand by up to 30% in radius which increases . Elephants with their trunks upwards and standing on the rear legs represent power and protection. It also helps elephants eat more food in a shorter time. Getty Images. Low sounds from the trunk are a growl . The thickness of the skin can vary, for example, the skin on an elephant's back can be up to 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick! "When elephants need more force, the joint is higher up on the trunk," Hu said. An elephants trunk is both an upper lip and an extension of the nose with two nostrils running through the whole length. Yes, elephants are able to swim quite far distances underwater, too! Trunks are organs called muscular hydrostats and they contain around 40,000 muscles that contract and expand to create intricate movements. Australian scientists have discovered new evidence that modern elephants evolved from an aquatic ancestor . On average, the giants consume more than 440 pounds of vegetation per day, or the equivalent of about two corncobs per minute. And scientists argue that these versatile trunks . African elephants have two fingers, while Asian elephants only have one. The Sumatran elephant is the smallest subspecies, weighing around five tons. The position of the trunk also is a sign of communication . The extended trunk of an elephant is not just to drink water. Then, can elephants be sick? It is formed by the merging of the nose and the upper lip. The elephant uses its trunk for breathing, eating, gripping, drinking, smelling, rubbing, and more. An elephant's trunk is strong enough to lift over 700lb, and dexterous enough to . Contrary to popular belief, an elephant trunk in the downward direction, does not mean bad luck. The key to the trunk's success is an extraordinary network . Snorkel through deep water: They use it to drink, store and spray water, and they also blow air through it to communicate their 110-decibel bellows can be heard for miles. The trunk in the downward direction represents ability to solve challenges and longevity. Imagine that times 1000. An elephant can use its trunk to rip a limb from a tree or to pick up a single blade of grass. How tall can elephants grow to be? Baby elephants cannot use their trunk when . But how do elephants keep up their eating pace when faced with smaller food pieces , such as a bowl of cereal? Etymology. The entire human body only has 639 muscles. New research ( Journal of The Royal . . Their body mass creates buoyancy enough to stay at the surface. Elephants are susceptible to some diseases spread by mosquitoes and to some inflictions that affect . "So the elephant trunk is actually . An adult male can lift more than 400 pounds and reach branches 20 feet high. By some trained elephants to lift large bales. Elephants use their trunks to say hello: Just like a handshake, or a hug, they intertwine their trunks when meeting to show affection or acceptance. Elephants, unlike people, do use their trunks to help them drink, but they only suck the water part of the way up and then use their trunks to squirt the water into their mouths. Breathing through the mouth is not comfortable. A fusion of the nose and upper lip, the trunk is an elephant's most versatile tool, used for breathing, smelling, touching, grasping, and producing sound. The trunk has more than 40,000 muscles in it which is more than a human has in their whole body. Their trunks give elephants a very powerful sense of smell - twice as sensitive as a bloodhound. Held high above the surface of the water, the trunk is used like a snorkel so the elephant can breathe even when its entire body is submerged. This, coupled with their ability to use their trunk as a snorkel allows them to swim for hours on end. Fascinating Facts About Elephants Elephants can spend up to 18 hours a day eating and grazing. The elephant trunk is a combination of the nose and upper lip of its mouth, technically a proboscis. They use it to communicate, show affection to offspring, play, show aggression and defense. Blog Contents. Baby elephants stay very close to their mothers for the first couple of months. The elephant's trunk . By adulthood, the trunk is large and powerful, weighing close to 300 pounds and 6-8 feet long. Water and mud is sprayed over the elephant's body to cool it down on a hot day and discourage external parasites like ticks. can + V: what can be done => Choose answer A. Researchers say the discovery could even help engineers . . The trunk is the fusion of an elephant's upper lip and nose and was formed over millions of years of evolution. One of the elephant embryos showing a clear trunk. And 100x as sensitive. The chances of an adult elephant surviving in the wild without its trunk are slim. )" An elephant's tooth can weight as much as three kilograms. 0 comments. Young elephants learn normal behavior in a social context, and learning from others, or social learning, plays a crucial role in their development. An elephant's trunk is 4 times better at smelling than a bloodhound. However, they can swim without any trouble. Elephants touching each other gently. ; Elephants drink a lot of water between 140 and 235 liters per day. I know that elephants won't eat, drink or vomit through their trunks. African elephants have two fingers, while Asian elephants only have one. ; Elephants can not Jump, however did you know that other animals such as Hippos, Sloths and Rhino's can also not Jump. Elephants use their trunks in a variety of ways. 10. They use their tusks to pull the bark from trees and dig roots out of the ground. They keep their trunks just above the water while their bodies stay just under the surface. Elephants normally use their trunks to siphon up water and squirt it into their mouths, which helps them avoid such a vulnerable position. Elephants do not have hands and so use their trunks for many of the actions you would use a hand for. The intestines of an elephant may be 19 meters in length, or more than 60 feet long. The elephant proboscis (trunk) exhibits an extraordinary kinematic versatility as it can manipulate a single blade of grass but also carry loads up to 270 kilograms. Elephants possess a phenomenal sense of smell. Because of their buoyancy they do not drown. The elephant's trunk has over 40,000 muscle. To demonstrate his dominance especially in males. None! The trunk also helps them remove dirt and mud from themselves by scooping it up in the end of it like a broom. One of the most interesting features of an elephant is its trunk. They can also suck up water at a speed of three litres per second into their trunk and then blow it into the mouth. Contrary to popular belief, the trunk does not act like a straw. Elephants can reach a weight of over 17,000 lbs. . Dan G. 8 months ago. An elephant in the wild can eat anywhere from 100 - 1000 pounds of vegetation in a 16 hour period. Their massive body surprisingly gives them the buoyancy they need to float effortlessly in the water. The elephant's trunk is a combination of their nose and upper lip and is able to touch, grasp and smell. Water also flowed through the trunk fast at some 3.7 liters (1 gallon) per second. This means that they can also dive down if they want to. Willyam Bradberry/Shutterstock.com. A fully-grown elephant can down 200 kilograms (that's 440 pounds) of greenery every day. African bush elephants are the largest species, with males being 304-336 cm (10 ft 0 in - 11 ft 0 in) tall at the shoulder with a body mass of 5.2-6.9 t (5.7-7.6 short tons) and females standing 247-273 cm (8 ft 1 in - 8 ft 11 in) tall at the shoulder with a body mass of 2.6-3.5 t (2.9-3.9 short tons). In addition to sucking up water to squirt in their mouths . The elephant's trunk is also used for drinking. To make each other feel better. Elephants live longer in captivity. Being the biggest mammal walking on the earth, elephants cannot jump like other mammals. Elephants' trunks are both delicate and sturdy -- they are capable of grasping a single blade of grass but can also carry nearly 600 pounds. 300. When given just a few cubes, the elephant picked them up with the prehensile tip of her trunk. Besides being the elephant attribute, trunks are also an incredible piece of biological engineering. The upper nasal cavities have chemical and olfactory sensors in the form of millions of receptor cells. An adult needs to eat between 200-600 pounds of food a day and drink up to 50 gallons of water a day. The cohesive structure of the family serves as a defense against predators as well as providing a social environment in which young elephants can mature and learn. There are a host of illnesses that are specific to elephants, such as trunk paralysis and elephant pox. To come to the rescue. They can also lift very heavy things with their trunk and throw it far away but also squeeze vigorously by holding it. Besides being the elephant attribute, trunks are also an incredible piece of biological engineering. They can also be seen rubbing their bodies against each other as a sign of affection. 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 skin of an Asian elephant is extremely sensitive . The pitch of their calls can be below the range of human hearing. The trunk helped them to reach more food," according to Wrege. About how long do elephants live in the wild? (For reference, humans have just over 600 muscles in our entire bodies. While swimming, the trunk of the elephant offers the most considerable advantage. The elephant is the national animal of Thailand. Elephants swim by floating in the water. What continents elephants found in? Our elephants live in Florida on a ranch built just for elephants! With such a sensitive touch in their trunk, elephant sense receptors allow them to feel even the slightest things. Breathing through the nose is natural. And now, scientists have figured out how the beasts are able to eat so much so fast. Elephant takes different steps to protect themselves with Trunks and tusks are the most important weapons of elephants to protect themselves. They simply press and pinch with their flexible trunks, a . Elephant trunks have "fingers" at the end to grip small objects. Elephants are vegetarians. Being that their trunks are prehensile. Elephants do not have hands and so use their trunks for many of the actions you would use a hand for. They are often seen touching them with their trunks just like humans will pat a child on the head. Elephants can hold up to eight litres of water in their trunks at a time which they blow into their mouths when drinking. The elephant's trunk is part of the upper lip and nose of the elephant. For example, when elephants who know each other meet they might touch trunks or even entwine their trunks together. Yes Elephants drink water through their trunks almost like straws, however they use the trunk to suck water almost half way and then pour the water into their mouths. 2. "When elephants need more force, the joint is higher up on the trunk," Hu said. "As an adult," Bittel writes, "an elephant's trunk is capable of lifting more than 700 pounds, thanks to an array of some 40,000 muscles. Elephants, unlike people, do use their trunks to help them drink, but they only suck the water part of the way up and then use their trunks to squirt the water into their mouths. There are more muscles in an elephant's trunk than the entire human body. Trunks also play an important role in smell and moving trunks close together in greeting may be partially to smell each other to . 6. Video length: 3 minutes. This baby can't do that yet, however, so it's just . Their noses are middlemen, and suctioners of convenience; elephants are lucky enough to do most of their feeding on land, where simply reaching out and . Elephant trunks were once snorkels. Therefore, such statues are . An elephant's trunk, also known as a proboscis, can be used to breathe, bathe, transport water to its mouth, and grasp objects for eating. Elephants learn from others. The trunk also acts as a hand. Calves can't see very well at first, but they can recognize their mothers by touch, scent, and sound. Elephant Trunks. "What they do is actually drink water into their trunk and they store it," Schulz said. Drives me crazy! With this appendage, elephants can move both food to their mouths while standing or sitting on the ground. African elephants like the ones in this study have two muscular extensions at the tip of their trunk resembling a pair of . 5. Here are some key uses of tusks for elephants. . Because the elephant uses its trunk to make noise and if the trunk is filled with water then there is no chance the voice would come out. There is no bone or cartilage in the trunk. Facts About Baby Elephants. The trunk of the elephant also helps the elephant to smell, which they do extremely well. Instrument to tear or peel the bark of the tree. They can also splay the soles of their feet to help propel their huge bulk when in water. The African elephant can raise or lower the trunk joint's height by up to 11 centimeters to increase or reduce the applied force. 300. There are a host of illnesses that are specific to elephants, such as trunk paralysis and elephant pox. "An elephant eats about 400 pounds of food a day, but very little is known about how they use their trunks to pick up lightweight food and water for 18 hours, every day," said Georgia Tech mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Andrew Schulz, who led the study."It turns out their trunks act like suitcases, capable of expanding when necessary."