Elephant Anatomy

Elephants are the largest land-dwelling animals. Mature elephants can be up to 6 – 7 m long and 3.5 – 4 m tall at the shoulder. They can weigh up to seven tons. Females are smaller than males (2.6 m, 3 tons). The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1956. It was a male and weighed about 12 tons, with a shoulder height of 4.2 m. The body of this animal is now mounted in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., USA.

DIFFERENCE IN APPEARANCE BETWEEN MALE & FEMAL AFRICAN ELEPHANTS

Because the testes are internal, distinguishing a male elephant from a female in the wild can be challenging. However, if you view the head from the side, the female’s profile is angular while in the male it is rounded. The part of the body directly under the tail, in the male, is convex; while, in the female, is concave.

Males are heavier and taller, reaching up to 4m, and can weigh up to 6 tons while females reach about 2.6m and weigh approximately 3 tons. Males have larger tusks compared to the females who have small tusks, or no tusks at all.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE INTERNAL ORGANS OF AN AFRICAN ELEPHANT

The brain of an adult elephant weighs between 4.5 kg and 5 kg
The temporal lobes in the brain, known to function as memory centres in humans, are large
The heart of an elephant weighs between 12 and 21 kg
The elephant heart beats at an average rate of 28 beats/min (The human heart beats at approx. 70 beats/min).
The combined length of the small and large intestine may reach 35 m
Elephants only digest 44% of their food intake
A mature elephant produces up to 110 kg of dung and 50 litres of urine every day