Organism Physiology Paper
Marlon Guzman
Bio/101
April 29, 2015
Lena Walker
Organism Physiology Paper Many organisms today have evolved physiologically to become more suited to their environments. Out of the many different animal species I chose one in particular that had more than several adaptations. The animal I am referring to is the elephant. Through evolution the enormous mammal has developed the current body parts of today. The elephant has adapted in several ways, using its body parts in a variety of ways to make everyday tasks even easier in the extreme living conditions.
An Elephant’s trunk is extraordinary and plays an important role in their life. The trunk alone has over 40,000 muscles. They use their trunks as an exploratory organ. It also is used for everyday tasks from simple to complex. Some examples could be pushing or picking up objects, feeding, and even sometimes as a snorkel for underwater. The elephant’s sense of smell comes in to play as well. Elephants raise their trunks in the air to smell for anything threatening when in danger. This makes it a valuable sensory organ as well.
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They have had several adaptions over time such as using them to help regulate body temperature and scaring off dangerous predators or threats. The ears could be compared to human fingerprints, each different. Due to the large network of veins and capillaries in their ears, elephants are able to drop their body temperature by ten degrees just by flapping their ears. The larger the ears the more effective this is. Not only are they good for helping regulate body heat but also for long distance communication as well. Elephant ears are very sensitive and able to hear at frequencies that even the human ear cannot hear. This could be compared to the ears of dogs in a sense. Long distance communication between elephants can be used for warning of potential dangers or threats in the