African Elephants

Elephants are extraordinarily complex and intriguing creatures. They are the largest land animals on the planet, and a socially intellectual species with highly developed social networks. The

Elephants descend from the ancient group of Proboscides, which arose 37 million years ago and spread from Africa into Asia. Scientists believe that the African elephant split from the mammoth about 7.6 million years ago and the Asian only about a million years ago. Therefore the Asian elephant is more closely related to the extinct mammoths than to African elephants. The African elephant is divided into two subspecies, the savanna and the forest elephant. DNA studies on these subspecies have shown that they are so different that they should be considered

They joined in religious festivals, guarded temples, presided over weddings, carried generals into battle, helped built the Taj Mahal, captivated audiences at circuses and zoos. They are often main characters in cartoons, a symbol of royalty in Thailand, and also helped clean the rubble after the deadly tsunamis in Asia in 2004. Elephants have played quite a unique and diverse role in human history. However the relationship between humans and elephants is very unique yet it can be very dangerous. Humans are currently driving elephants to extinction, by destroying their habitat, leaving them vulnerable to desiase, shooting them when they approach farms, and poaching or illegally killing about 35,000 elephants a year for their ivory tusks. Scientists are studying elephant communication in order to fully understand elephants, which is key in the process of saving them from

They have a vocal range of ten octaves and can make over seventy vocalizations or calls. Scientist Joyce Poole and her colleagues who are studying savanna elephants at Kenya's Amboseli National Park, have identified ten basic calls. Seven of these are produced from the throat, they are, the bark, cry, grunt, husky cry, rev, roar, and the rumble, and three are produced from the trunk,these are, the trumpet, nasal-trumpet, and the snort. They combine these vocalizations to make all of the other ones. African elephant calls have been grouped into three categories. Those that signal hormonal state or readiness to mate, those that signal excitement, fear, and surprise, and those that help scattered families of elephants regroup and stay together in a large area. The calls can differ in meaning if they are joined with other calls, and what elephants say depends on who they are talking