This thread will have an #AsianElephant fact each day, follow n retweet.
Asian elephants (𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘴) belongs to the Class- Mammalia, Order-Proboscidea, Family - Elephantidae.
Present day elephants evolved over a period of 50 million years ago from small pig like ancestors ‘𝘔𝘰𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮’
Tiny hyrax, is a close living relative of the modern elephant.
The family ‘𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘦’ to which Asian elephants (𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘴) and African elephants (𝘓𝘰𝘹𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘢) belong evolved 5 million years ago.
Several species evolved and became extinct in the evolutionary line leading to Asian elephant. One of those that became extinct was the dwarf elephant 𝘌. 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘪, just one metre tall at the shoulder. It lived on the Mediterranean islands.
The largest of all elephant and one of the earliest known mammoth was 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘪 it was 4.5m tall at the shoulder.
Of all the extinct early elephants people are most familiar with woolly mammoth. It was almost the same size as Asian elephants (3m tall at shoulder) but covered with thick long dark hairs. It also had 5m long spiralling tusks used for clearing snow & accessing fodder underneath.
Best known extinct woolly mammoths have been widely illustrated in Stone age cave paintings over 20k years ago. The thick hair n fat layer allowed these creature to survive in extreme cold. But they were unable to survive hunting pressure by man n became extinct 10k years ago.
Tusks are actually enlarged incisors composed of dentine. The cap of enamel over the dentine wears off. Usually, one-third of the tusk lies within and is deeply embedded in the skull.
The root end of the tusk is hollow n filled with vascular tissue which extends forward into the tusk to a point just beyond the lip line. Calves have milk tusks which fall off after the first year.
What really sets elephants apart from other animals is the distinctive trunk. This vital tool is a combination of nose and upper lip and forms an elongated mobile organ that also functions as a hand. The elephant makes varied use of its trunk.
Trunk is used for drinking water, bathing, communication, to dig holes in dry riverbeds to reach the subsurface water n an awesome weapon of self defence, it also functions as tactile sense organ.
The Asian elephants were once widely distributed throughout southern Asia. They were found as far west as Syria. The Egyptian Pharaohs used to hunt both African and Asian elephants. Hunting, human settlement expansion led to their extinction in Syria.
The westernmost distribution of Asian elephants is in Uttar Pradesh (Rajaji national Park) in India. In the East they are found up to Indo-China. But the range has shrunk to a fraction of its original size in most of what is left is fragmented.
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