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The Evolution Of Elephants

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Elephants are notorious for their distinct appearance; their large tusks, enormous size, long trunk, floppy ears and so on. It is a common thought that the elephant’s closest relatives must be other large, gray, terrestrial animals found in Africa such as rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses. However, elephants are far closer related to the manatee, hyrax, aardvark and round-eared sengi The evolution of this marvelous modern mammal began more than 50 million years ago. Their earliest ancestors (moeritherium) more closely resembled pigs than elephants, with short legs, a long body, and a stubby flexible nose, their traits served these animals well enough in the marshy region the called home. Over the next 10-20 million years, generation after generation
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