Proboscis squad. Proboscis mammals. Representatives of the order Proboscis and their features
An infraclass of higher beasts, currently consisting of a single family of elephants. Proboscidea are the largest of modern land animals. The height of the body of elephants at the shoulders reaches 4 m, and the weight is 7.5 tons. They are common in Africa south of the Sahara, as well as in South and Southeast Asia from Pakistan through India, Nepal and Burma to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, the Malay Peninsula and the islands of Sumatra.
The wide legs of elephants are adapted for movement on almost any soil - from the hard soil of the savannas to the swampy banks of rivers and lakes. When resting on the foot, its sole expands, increasing the supporting surface. When walking, the legs are springy, which allows elephants to walk completely silently. Each of the five toes of the front feet, as well as three or four toes of the hind feet, are covered with a small hoof. On the chest between the front legs, as well as in primates, sirens and bats, there is a pair of nipples of the mammary glands. Despite the massive build, the proboscis are mobile, overcome steep climbs without visible effort and feel free among the rocks, swim perfectly, leaving their forehead and the tip of their trunk above the surface of the water. Elephant breeding is not associated with a specific season. Pregnancy lasts from 20 to 22 months. The female brings 1, less often 2 cubs. The first months of life, the baby elephant feeds on mother's milk, which he sucks with his mouth, without using his trunk.
The first proboscis arose in Africa in the Paleogene period in the second half of the Eocene epoch. Their closest relatives are Marine life- siren (dugongs, manatees, Steller's sea cow), and merotheria are considered the oldest representative connecting these two orders. The group that deviated early from the general path of development of the proboscis was the deinotherium. At the base of the main evolutionary path development of the proboscis, paleomastodons are located, gomphoteria originate from them, a kind of “intermediate link” leading to real elephants and to the numerous in the past, but extinct group of real mastodons. Relatives of gomphotheres were also specialized forms adapted to living in swamps - platybelodon, and forms close to them.
During the Cenozoic, there were many dozens of proboscis species, only mammoths in the Pliocene and quaternary period there were at least 20 species. Many of them had a completely "elephant" appearance, a trunk and protruding tusks. But some, especially the ancestral and evasive forms, were unusual, such as, for example, Platybelodon and closely related Gnatobelodon and Ambelodon.
The fossil ancestors of elephants inhabited almost all continents, with the exception of Australia and Antarctica. Some of them were not bigger than a horse, others, like the southern elephant, were real giants and reached a height of 5 m. Fossil proboscis lived mainly in forests, savannahs and along river valleys. Only the mammoth, with a general cooling of the climate, managed to adapt to the harsh conditions of the tundra.
The diversity of representatives of the Proboscis and Callus-footed orders
Detachment Proboscis
Systematic position
Kingdom Animals Animalia
Type Chordates Chordata
Class Mammals Mammalia
Detachment Proboscidea
Family Elephantidae Gray
African Elephants (Loxodonta) Indian Elephants (Elephas)
Forest African Elephant Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus)
(Loxodonta cyclotis)
African bush elephant
(Loxodonta africana)
Elephant Pedigree
Both the Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) and the African elephant (Loxodonta) and its two species:
African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) are descendants of Proboscidea, an ancient animal with a trunk.
The elephants that live today are descended from two different, parallel ancestral branches. Both of them were developed when dinosaurs dominated the earth. It was then that Moeritheres appeared on the territory of modern Egypt - animals similar to tapirs. This happened in the Paleocene epoch (65 million years ago).
The structure of the skull and the arrangement of the teeth of these proboscideans was almost the same as that of the modern elephant, and four teeth were the forerunners of modern tusks.
Another branch was represented by Deinotheridae, an animal that lives in Africa and Eurasia. Being in favorable living conditions, all these animals in the next 26 million years spread throughout Africa and Eurasia, and eventually across North and South America.
Different climatic conditions and habitats have led to the emergence of various types of proboscis. They lived everywhere - from the polar glacier to the desert, including the tundra, and the taiga, and forests, as well as the savannah and swamps.
elephant ancestors
Deinotherium(Deinotheridae) lived in the Eocene era (58 million years ago) and strongly resembled modern elephants. They were much smaller, had a shorter trunk, and two tusks were twisted down and back. These animals became extinct 2.5 million years ago.
gomphoteria(Gomphotherium) lived in the Oligocene epoch (37 million years ago). They had an elephant body but a vestigial trunk. The teeth were similar to those of modern elephants, but there were also four small tusks, two of which were twisted up and two were twisted down. Some had flat jaws, allowing them to scoop up swamp vegetation. Others had significantly smaller jaws, but with strongly developed tusks. Gomphoteria became extinct 10 thousand years ago.
From Gomphotherium in the Miocene-Pleistocene era (10-12 million years ago) occurred Mamutids(Mammutidae), often called mastodons.
These animals were almost the same as elephants, but had a more powerful body, long tusks and a longer trunk. They also differed in the arrangement of their teeth. Their eyes were much smaller, and on the body there was a dense hairline. It is assumed that mastodons lived in the forests until primitive people came to the continent (18 thousand years ago).
Elephant(Elephantidae) descended from mastodons in the Pleistocene era (1.6 million years ago) and gave rise to the Mammuthus family, the closest to the family of prehistoric elephants - huge, woolly mammoths and two lineages of modern elephants: Elephas and Loxodonta.
Mammuthusimperator lived in the southern part of North America, was the largest mammoth: 4.5 m at the withers.
The northern woolly mammoth, Mammuthuspremigenius, lived in northern North America and is the most studied species, with several intact frozen specimens found and preserved as such to this day.
Woolly-coated mammoths were slightly larger than modern elephants and protected themselves from the cold with long dense reddish wool and a subcutaneous layer of fat up to 76 mm thick. Their long tusks were twisted down, forward and inward and served to tear the snow that covered the vegetation.
Mammoths died out about 10 thousand years ago during the last ice age. According to many scientists, hunters played a significant or even decisive role in this extinction. Upper Paleolithic. In the mid-1990s, one could read about a stunning discovery made on Wrangel Island in the journal Nature. An employee of the reserve Sergey Vartanyan discovered the remains of mammoths on the island, whose age was determined from 7 to 3.5 thousand years. Subsequently, it was discovered that these remains belong to a special relatively small subspecies that inhabited Wrangel Island at a time when the Pyramids of Egypt, and which disappeared only in the reign of Tutankhamun and the heyday of the Mycenaean civilization.
One of the latest, most massive and southernmost burials of mammoths is located on the territory of the Kargat region Novosibirsk region, in the upper reaches of the Bagan River in the area "Wolf's Mane". It is assumed that at least one and a half thousand (1500) mammoth skeletons are located here. Some of the bones bear traces of human processing, which allows us to build various hypotheses about the habitation of ancient people in Siberia.
Detachment Proboscis
Proboscis (lat. Proboscidea) - a detachment of placental mammals, owe their name to their main hallmark- trunk. The only representatives of proboscis today are the elephant family (Elephantidae). Extinct proboscis families include mastodons (Mammutidae).
Proboscis are distinguished not only by their trunk, but also by their unique tusks, as well as the largest size among all mammals on land. These peculiarities are by no means a hindrance, but, on the contrary, highly specialized adaptations. Once upon a time, many proboscis families lived on earth, some of which had four tusks. Today there is only a family of elephants in a very limited living space.
Proboscis formations were barely noticeable at the beginning and served proboscis ancestors living in swamps as a means to breathe underwater. Later, the trunks, with their many muscles, developed into finely sensitive grasping organs, which made it possible to pick both leaves from trees and grass in the steppes. Tusks during evolution reached 4 meters and had various shapes.
The African and Indian elephant are all that remain today from their many ancestors.
Head African elephant in profile it looks sloping, in the form of a clearly defined angle; the ridge rises from the head to the shoulder blades, then drops and rises again to the hips.
At Indian elephant superciliary arches and a convex bump on the top of the head with a cleft in the middle are pronounced; the back in the middle is higher than in the area of the shoulder blades and hips.
Indian elephant
A powerful, massive animal, with a large broad-browed head, short neck, powerful body and columnar legs. The Indian elephant is smaller than the African counterpart. Its mass does not exceed 5 tons, and the height at the shoulders is 2.5-3 m. Unlike the African elephant, only males have tusks, but they are also 2-3 times shorter than the tusks of an African relative. The ears of the Indian elephant are smaller, stretched down and pointed.
Wild Indian elephants live in India, Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Malacca, Sumatra and Sri Lanka. Due to the expansion of plantations and crops, the number of wild elephants is declining. Animals are destroyed as pests of agriculture, despite the ban. The Indian elephant, like the African one, is listed in the IUCN Red List.
The Indian elephant lives in forest thickets, usually keeps in family groups of 10-20 animals, sometimes there are herds of up to 100 or more individuals. The leader of the herd usually becomes old female.
Unlike the African relative, the Indian elephant is easily tamed and easy to train. In hard-to-reach swampy places, elephants are used as riding animals. Four people can fit on the back of an animal in a gazebo, not counting the driver sitting on the neck of an elephant. Elephants are able to carry up to 350 kg of cargo. Trained elephants not only carry logs in logging sites, but also stack them in a certain order, load and unload barges. Indian elephants buy zoos and circuses around the world.
Indian elephants are inferior in size to African savanna elephants, but their size is also impressive - old individuals (males) reach a weight of 5.4 tons with a height of 2.5 - 3.5 meters. Females are smaller than males, weighing an average of 2.7 tons. The smallest is a subspecies from Kalimantan (weight about 2 tons). For comparison, the African savannah elephant weighs from 4 to 7 tons. The body length of the Indian elephant is 5.5-6.4 m, the tail is 1.2-1.5 m. The Indian elephant is more massive than the African one. The legs are thick and comparatively short; the structure of the soles of the feet resembles that of an African elephant - there is a special springy mass under the skin. There are five hooves on the front legs, four on the hind legs. The body is covered with thick wrinkled skin; skin color - from dark gray to brown. The thickness of the skin of an Indian elephant reaches 2.5 cm, but is very thin on inside ears, around the mouth and anus. The skin is dry and has no sweat glands, so caring for it is an important part of an elephant's life. Mud baths protect elephants from insect bites, sunburn, and fluid loss. Dust baths, bathing and scratching on trees also play a role in skin hygiene. Often, depigmented pinkish areas are noticeable on the body of the Indian elephant, which give them a mottled appearance. Newborn baby elephants are covered with brownish hair, which is wiped off and thins with age, but even adult Indian elephants are more covered with coarse wool than African ones.
Albinos are very rare among elephants and are to a certain extent the object of worship in Siam. Usually they are only a little lighter and have a few even lighter spots. The best specimens were pale reddish-brown in color with a pale yellow iris and sparse white hair on the back.
The broad forehead, depressed in the middle and strongly convex laterally, has an almost vertical position; its tubercles represent the highest point of the body (in the African elephant, the shoulders). by the most hallmark, which distinguishes the Indian elephant from the African, is the relatively smaller size of the auricles. The ears of the Indian elephant never rise above the level of the neck. They are medium in size, irregularly quadrangular in shape, with several elongated tip and an inward-turned top edge. The tusks (elongated upper incisors) are significantly, 2-3 times smaller than those of the African elephant, up to 1.6 m long, weighing up to 20-25 kg. During the year of growth, the tusk increases by an average of 17 cm. They develop only in males, rarely in females. Among the Indian elephants there are males without tusks, which in India are called makhna (makhna). Especially often such males are found in the north-eastern part of the country; the largest number of tuskless elephants has a population in Sri Lanka (up to 95%)
Just as people are right-handed and left-handed, different elephants are more likely to use the right or left tusk. This is determined by the degree of wear of the tusk and its more rounded tip.
In addition to the tusks, the elephant has 4 molars, which are replaced several times during life as they wear out. When changing, new teeth do not grow under the old ones, but further on the jaw, gradually pushing the worn teeth forward. In the Indian elephant, the molars change 6 times during their life; the latter erupt by about 40 years. When the last teeth are worn down, the elephant loses the ability to eat normally and dies of starvation. As a rule, this happens by the age of 70.
The elephant's trunk is a long process formed by the nose and upper lip fused together. A complex system of muscles and tendons gives it great flexibility and mobility, allowing the elephant to manipulate even small objects, and its volume allows it to collect up to 6 liters of water. The septum (septum), which separates the nasal cavity, also consists of numerous muscles. An elephant's trunk is devoid of bones and cartilage; the only cartilage is at its end, separating the nostrils. Unlike the African elephant, the trunk ends in a single dorsal finger-like process.
The differences between the Indian elephant and the African are a lighter color, medium-sized tusks that are available only in males, small ears, a convex humpbacked back without a "saddle", two bulges on the forehead and a single finger-like process at the end of the trunk. Differences in the internal structure also include 19 pairs of ribs instead of 21, as in the African elephant, and structural features of the molars - the transverse dentin plates in each tooth of the Indian elephant are from 6 to 27, which is more than that of the African elephant. There are 33 tail vertebrae instead of 26. The heart often has a double apex. Females can be distinguished from males by the two mammary glands located on the chest. The elephant's brain is the largest among land animals and reaches a weight of 5 kg.
Lifestyle
The Indian elephant, to a greater extent than the African, is a forest dweller. It prefers light tropical and subtropical broadleaf forests with dense undergrowth of shrubs and especially bamboo. Previously, in the cool season, elephants went out into the steppes, but now this has become possible only in reserves, since outside of them the steppe has almost everywhere been turned into agricultural land. In summer, along the wooded slopes, elephants rise quite high into the mountains, meeting in the Himalayas at the border of eternal snows, at an altitude of up to 3600 m. Elephants move quite easily through swampy areas and climb mountains.
Like other large mammals, elephants are more tolerant of cold than heat. They spend the hottest part of the day in the shade, constantly waving their ears to cool the body and improve heat transfer. They love to take baths, dousing themselves with water and rolling around in mud and dust; these precautions protect the skin of elephants from drying out, sunburn and insect bites. For their size, elephants are remarkably agile and agile; they have a wonderful sense of balance. If necessary, they check the reliability and hardness of the soil under their feet with the blows of the trunk, however, thanks to the structure of the foot, they are able to move even in wetlands. An alarmed elephant can reach speeds of up to 48 km / h; at the same time, on the run, the elephant raises its tail, signaling to its relatives about the danger. Elephants are also good at swimming. Most of the time the elephant spends in search of food, but the elephant needs at least 4 hours a day to sleep. At the same time, they do not fall on the ground; the exceptions are sick elephants and young animals.
Elephants are distinguished by a keen sense of smell, hearing and touch, but their eyesight is poor - they see poorly at a distance of more than 10 m, somewhat better in shaded places. The hearing of elephants, because of the huge ears that serve as amplifiers, is far superior to that of humans. The fact that elephants use infrasound to communicate over long distances was first noted by the Indian naturalist M. Krishnan. Elephants use numerous sounds, postures, and trunk gestures to communicate. Thus, a long trumpet call calls the herd; a short sharp, trumpet sound means fear; powerful blows with a trunk on the ground mean irritation and rage. Elephants have an extensive repertoire of calls, roars, grunts, squeals, etc., which signal danger, stress, aggression and greet each other.
Nutrition and migration
Indian elephants are strict vegetarians and spend up to 20 hours a day foraging and feeding. Only during the hottest hours of the day do elephants shelter in the shade to avoid overheating. The amount of food they eat daily is from 150 to 300 kg of various vegetation, or 6-8% of the elephant's body weight. Elephants eat mainly grass; they also in some quantities eat the bark, roots and leaves of various plants, as well as flowers and fruits. Elephants pluck long grass, leaves and shoots with their flexible trunk; if the grass is short, they first loosen and dig up the soil with kicks. The bark from large branches is scraped off with molars, holding the branch with the trunk. Elephants willingly devastate agricultural crops, usually rice, banana and sugarcane plantations, thus being the largest pests in agriculture in terms of size.
The digestive system of the Indian elephant is quite simple; a capacious cylindrical stomach allows you to "store" food while it is fermented in the intestines by symbiont bacteria. The total length of the small and large intestines in the Indian elephant reaches 35 m. The digestion process takes about 24 hours; at the same time, only 44-45% of food is actually absorbed. An elephant needs at least 70-90 (up to 200) liters of water per day, so they never move away from water sources. Like African elephants, they often dig in the ground in search of salt.
Due to the large amount of food they eat, elephants rarely feed in the same place for more than 2-3 days in a row. They are not territorial, but keep to their feeding areas, which reach 15 km2 in males and 30 km2 in gregarious females, increasing in size during the dry season. In the past, elephants made long seasonal migrations (a full migration cycle sometimes took up to 10 years), as well as movements between water sources, but human activity has made such movements impossible, limiting the stay of elephants to national parks and reserves.
Social structure and reproduction
Wild Indian elephants are social animals. Although adult males often live alone, females always form family groups consisting of a matriarch (the most experienced female), her daughters, sisters and cubs, including immature males. Sometimes there is one old male near the herd. In the 19th century herds of elephants, as a rule, consisted of 30-50 individuals, although there were also herds of up to 100 or more heads. Currently, herds consist mainly of 2-10 females and their offspring. The herd may temporarily break up into smaller groups that maintain contact through distinctive vocalizations containing low frequency components. Small groups (less than 3 adult females) have been found to be more stable than large ones. Several small herds can form the so-called. clan.
Males usually lead a solitary lifestyle; only young males who have not reached sexual maturity form temporary groups not associated with female groups. Adult males approach the herd only when one of the females is in oestrus. At the same time, they arrange marriage duels; most time, however, males are quite tolerant of each other, their feeding territories often intersect. By the age of 15-20, males usually reach sexual maturity, after which they annually enter a state known as must (in Urdu, "drunk"). This period is characterized by high level testosterone and, as a result, aggressive behavior. When must from a special skin gland located between the ear and the eye, an odorous black secret containing pheromones is released. Males even excrete copious amounts of urine. In this state, they are very excited, dangerous and can even attack a person. Must lasts up to 60 days; all this time, males practically stop feeding and wander in search of females in heat. It is curious that in African elephants the must is less pronounced and first occurs at a later age (from the age of 25).
Breeding can occur at any time of the year regardless of the season. Females are in oestrus for only 2-4 days; A full estrous cycle lasts about 4 months. Males join the herd after mating matches - as a result, only mature dominant males are allowed to breed. Fights sometimes lead to serious injuries of opponents and even death. The male winner drives away other males and stays with the female for about 3 weeks. In the absence of females, young male elephants often exhibit homosexual behavior.
Elephant pregnancy is the longest among mammals; it lasts from 18 to 21.5 months, although the fetus is fully developed by 19 months and then only increases in size. The female brings 1 (rarely 2) cub weighing about 90-100 kg and height (at the shoulders) about 1 m. It has tusks about 5 cm long, which fall out by 2 years, when milk teeth change to adults. During calving, the rest of the females surround the mother, forming a protective circle. Shortly after giving birth, the female defecates so that the cub remembers the smell of her feces. The baby elephant rises to its feet 2 hours after birth and immediately begins to suck milk; the female with the help of a trunk "sprays" dust and earth on it, drying the skin and masking its smell from large predators. After a few days, the cub is already able to follow the herd, holding on to the tail of its mother or older sister with its trunk. All lactating females in the herd are engaged in feeding the baby elephant. Milk feeding continues up to 18-24 months, although the baby elephant begins to eat plant food after 6-7 months. Elephants also eat their mother's feces - with their help, not only undigested nutrients are transferred to them, but also symbiotic bacteria that help absorb cellulose. Mothers continue to take care of their offspring for several more years. Young elephants begin to separate from the family group by the age of 6-7 years and are finally expelled by 12-13 years.
The rate of growth, maturation and life expectancy of elephants is comparable to that of a human. Sexual maturity in female Indian elephants occurs at the age of 10-12 years, although they become capable of bearing offspring by the age of 16, and reach adult size only by 20 years. Males become capable of breeding at 10-17 years of age, but competition with older males keeps them from breeding. At this age, young males leave their native herd; females, as a rule, remain in it for life. The onset of puberty, as well as estrus in mature females, can be hampered by unfavorable conditions - periods of drought or severe crowding. Under the most favorable conditions, the female is able to bring offspring every 3-4 years. During the life of the female gives an average of 4 litters. The period of greatest fertility is between 25 and 45 years.
African bush elephant
The African savannah elephant is characterized by a massive heavy body; large head on a short neck; thick limbs; huge ears; upper incisors turned into tusks; long muscular trunk. The body length reaches 6-7.5 m, the height at the shoulders (the highest point of the body) is 2.4-3.5 m. Average weight the body of females is 2.8 tons, males - 5 tons.
Sexual dimorphism is expressed not only in body weight, but also in the size of the tusks - in males they are much larger: their length is 2.4-2.5 m and weighs up to 60 kg. The largest known tusk reached 4.1 m and weighed 148 kg, but the heaviest tusks were from an elephant killed in 1898 near Kilimanjaro - 225 kg each. The tusks continue to grow throughout an elephant's life and serve as an indicator of its age. In addition to the tusks, the elephant has only 4-6 molars, which are replaced during life as they wear out. When changing, new teeth do not grow under the old ones, but further on the jaw, gradually pushing the old teeth forward. The molars are very large, weighing up to 3.7 kg with a length of 30 cm and a width of 10 cm. They change 3 times during the life of an elephant: at the age of 15, milk teeth are replaced by permanent ones, the next change of teeth occurs at 30 and 40 years. The last teeth wear out by the age of 65-70, after which the animal loses the ability to eat normally and dies of exhaustion.
In the African elephant, the trunk ends in 2 processes, dorsal and ventral. The usual length of the trunk is about 1.5 m, weight - 135 kg. Thanks to a complex system of muscles and tendons, the trunk has great mobility and strength. With its help, the elephant is able to both pick up a small object and lift a load weighing 250-275 kg. An elephant's trunk can hold 7.5 liters of water.
Huge ears (length from base to top 1.2-1.5 m) are an evolutionary adaptation to a hot climate. Due to the large area and developed blood supply, they help the elephant get rid of excess heat. By moving their ears, elephants fan themselves with them like a fan.
The pattern of veins on the surface of an elephant's ears is as individual as human fingerprints. It can be used to identify an elephant. Holes and tears on the edges of the ears also help in identification.
The skin, colored dark gray, reaches a thickness of 2-4 cm and is indented with a network of wrinkles. Young elephants are covered with dark hair, which is wiped off with age; only at the end of the tail remains a long black tassel. Despite its thickness, elephant skin is sensitive to various damage and insect bites and needs regular grooming. To protect it from the sun and insects, elephants take dust and mud baths, and also bathe in ponds.
Tail length - 1-1.3 m; the number of tail vertebrae is up to 26 (less than that of the Indian elephant). There are 5 hooves on the hind limbs, the number of hooves on the forelimbs varies from 4 to 5. The peculiar structure of the soles (a special springy mass located under the skin) makes the gait of elephants almost silent. Thanks to him, elephants are able to move through swampy areas: when the animal pulls its foot out of the bog, the sole takes the form of a cone narrowed downwards; when he steps, the sole flattens out under the weight of the body, increasing the area of \u200b\u200bsupport.
From the Asian elephant (Elephus maximus), the African elephant is distinguished by its larger size, darker color, "saddle" on the back, long tusks for elephants of both sexes, two processes at the end of the trunk. The Asian elephant is characterized by two bulges on the forehead, while the African forehead is smooth, less bulging and cut back.
Historically, the range of the African elephant extended throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In ancient times, it (or a separate species of Loxodonta pharaonensis) was also found in North Africa, but completely died out in the VI century. AD At present, the range that was almost continuous in the past is strongly broken, especially in West Africa. The area of distribution of elephants has decreased from 30 million km2 to 5.3 million km2 (2003). The African elephant is completely extinct in Burundi, Gambia and Mauritania. The northern border of the range runs approximately along 16.4 ° N; an isolated population survived further north, in Mali. Despite the vast area of distribution, elephants are mainly concentrated in national parks and reserves.
The smaller forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), which lives in the jungle, is currently separated into a separate species Loxodonta cyclotis based on genome studies, morphological and behavioral differences. Presumably, two species of the genus Loxodonta diverged at least 2.5 million years ago, but they can interbreed and produce hybrids. In the lists of the International Red Book, both species of African elephants appear under common name Loxodonta africana. The identification of a third species, the East African elephant, is in question.
They inhabit a wide variety of landscapes (with the exception of tropical forests and deserts) up to 3660 m above sea level; occasionally occur up to 4570 m above sea level. The main requirements for the habitat are: the availability of food, the presence of shade and the presence of fresh water, from which elephants, however, can move more than 80 km.
They are active both during the day and at night, but activity decreases during the hottest hours. In areas with high activity of people, they switch to a nocturnal lifestyle. According to observations during the day, the African elephant spends 13% of the time on rest, 74% on feeding, 11% on transitions and 2% on other activities. Peak feeding occurs in the morning hours.
Elephants do not see well (at a distance of no more than 20 m), but they have an excellent sense of smell and hearing. For communication, a large number of visual signals and touches are used, as well as a wide repertoire of vocalizations, including loud trumpet sounds known to everyone. Studies have shown that elephant calls contain infrasonic components (14-35 Hz), making them audible over long distances (up to 10 km). In general, the cognitive and perceptual abilities of African elephants have been less studied than those of Asian elephants.
Despite their massive build, elephants are remarkably agile. They swim well or move along the bottom of the reservoir, putting only their trunk above the water. Usually they move at a speed of 2-6 km / h, but for a short time they can reach speeds of up to 35-40 km / h. Elephants sleep standing up, gathered together in a dense group; only the cubs lie on their side on the ground. Sleep lasts about 40 minutes.
Nutrition and migration
They feed on plant foods: leaves, branches, shoots, bark and roots of trees and shrubs; the proportions of feed depend on the habitat and season. During the wet season, herbaceous plants such as papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) and cattail (Typha augustifolia) make up the bulk of the diet. Older elephants feed mainly on marsh vegetation, which is less nutritious but softer; for this reason, fallen elephants are often found in swamps (hence the legend of "elephant cemeteries" where they come to die). Elephants need a daily watering place and in the dry season they sometimes dig holes in the beds of dry rivers, where water from aquifers collects. These watering holes are used not only by elephants, but also by other animals, including buffaloes and rhinos. On a day, one elephant consumes from 100 to 300 kg of food (5% of its own weight) and drinks 100-220 liters of water. Fruit-eating forest elephants usually get the necessary liquid with food, only in the dry season going to the reservoirs. African elephants also need salt, which is either found on licks or dug out of the ground.
In search of food and water, the African elephant is able to travel up to 500 km; on average, it covers a distance of about 12 km per day. In the past, the length seasonal migrations African elephants reached 300 km. Almost all elephant migrations followed a general pattern: at the beginning of the rainy season - from permanent reservoirs; in the dry season - back. Off-season, shorter migrations took place between sources of water and food. The animals adhered to the usual routes, leaving behind well-marked trampled paths. Currently, the migration of African elephants is limited due to increased human activity, as well as the concentration of the main population of elephants in protected areas.
Elephants lead a nomadic lifestyle. They travel in stable groups, which in the past reached 400 animals. In a herd, there are usually 9-12 animals belonging to the same family: an old female (matriarch), her offspring and older daughters with immature cubs. The female matriarch determines the direction of the roam; decides when the herd will feed, rest or bathe. She leads the herd until the age of 50-60, after which she is inherited by the oldest female. Sometimes the family also includes one of the matriarch's sisters and her offspring. Males are usually expelled or leave the herd when they reach sexual maturity (9-15 years), after which they lead a solitary lifestyle, sometimes gathering in temporary herds. Males contact matriarchal families only during estrus in one of the females. When a family gets too big, it splits up. Herds may temporarily unite (Serengeti, Tanzania); observations have shown that some families of African elephants are special relationship and spend a lot of time together. In general, elephants are sociable and do not avoid each other.
Studies in the Lake Manyara National Park (Tanzania) have shown that individual families of elephants stick to certain areas, not wandering throughout the park. Not being territorial, elephants, however, keep their feeding areas, which in favorable conditions vary from 15 to 50 km 2. The areas of solitary males are much larger, up to 1500 km2. The largest areas were recorded for elephants from Kaokoveld (Namibia), where the annual rainfall is only 320 mm: 5800–8700 km2. Communication within the herd takes many forms, including vocal cues, touch, and a variety of postures. Collective behavior includes joint care of offspring and protection from predators. Family members are extremely attached to each other. Thus, when elephants from the same family unite after several days of separation, their meeting is accompanied by a welcoming ceremony, which sometimes lasts up to 10 minutes. At the same time, elephants show great excitement: they make loud cries, twist their trunks and cross their tusks, flap their ears, urinate, etc. If the parting was short, the ceremony is reduced to flapping ears, trumpet "greetings" and touches with the trunk. There are cases when elephants took away wounded relatives from danger, supporting them on the sides. Elephants, apparently, have some idea of death - judging by their behavior, they, unlike other animals, recognize the corpses and skeletons of their relatives.
Fights in the herd are rare. Elephants demonstrate dominance and aggression by raising their heads and trunks, straightening their ears, digging the ground with their feet, shaking their heads and making demonstrative attacks on the enemy. Fights are usually limited to pushing and crossing tusks, only during fights for a female can males inflict serious and fatal wounds on each other with tusks. The subordinate position is indicated by the lowered head and ears.
reproduction
Breeding is not associated with a specific season, but most calving occurs in the middle of the rainy season. In dry periods or in crowded living conditions, sexual activity decreases, females do not ovulate. Males wander in search of females in estrus, staying with them for no more than a few weeks. Estrus in elephants lasts about 48 hours, at which time she calls the males with cries. Usually, before mating, the male and female are removed from the herd for a while.
Pregnancy in elephants is the longest among mammals - 20-22 months. The female brings 1 developed cub; twins are rare (only 1-2% of births). A newborn baby elephant weighs 90-120 kg with a shoulder height of about 1 m; his trunk is short, there are no tusks. Childbirth takes place at a distance from the rest of the herd; often a giving birth female is accompanied by a "midwife". 15-30 minutes after birth, the baby elephant rises to its feet and can follow its mother. Until the age of 4, he needs maternal care; he is also looked after by young immature females 2-11 years old, who are thus preparing for the role of the mother. Studies in Amboseli (Kenya, 1992) showed that the more "nannies" take care of the offspring, the more cubs survive. Milk feeding continues up to 1.5-5 years, although cubs begin to eat solid food already at the age of 6 months and are able to completely switch to it by 2 years. Childbirth occurs 1 time in 2.5-9 years; the baby elephant usually stays with the mother until the next birth. A study of elephants in the Addo National Park (South Africa, 2000) showed that 95% of sexually mature elephants under 49 years of age are pregnant or nursing offspring. Young females remain in their herd for life, males leave it when they reach sexual maturity, which usually occurs between 10 and 12 years. Elephants show the greatest diversity in the timing of sexual maturity among mammals, with the minimum recorded age in females being 7 years. AT adverse conditions females reach sexual maturity at 18-19 or even 22 years old. The peak of fertility also varies greatly depending on the habitat: from the age of 18-19 years (Luangwa river valley, Zambia) to 31-35 years (Northern Bunyoro, Uganda). Elephants remain fertile up to 55-60 years, bringing 1-9 cubs during their life. In males, puberty occurs at 10-12 years, however, due to competition with older males, they begin to mate only at the age of 25-30 years, reaching a reproductive peak by 40-50 years. From the age of 25, males periodically enter a state of must (musth - in Urdu "drunk"), characterized by increased aggressiveness and sexual activity. In general, elephants show great reproductive flexibility: under unfavorable conditions (poor feeding conditions, food competition from other species, overcrowding), the time of onset of puberty lengthens and the interval between births increases, and vice versa.
Lifespan
African elephants live up to 60-70 years, continuing to grow slowly throughout their lives. In captivity, their age reached 80 years. The age of an elephant can be determined by its size (relative to the matriarch of the herd), the length of the tusks and the wear of the teeth. Adult elephants, due to their size, have no natural enemies; elephants younger than 2 years old are attacked by lions, leopards, crocodiles and occasionally hyenas. There are known cases of skirmishes between elephants, especially males, and rhinos. About half of young elephants die before the age of 15; further, the mortality rate in the population falls to 3-3.5% annually and after 45 years it rises again. The lifespan of an elephant is limited by the degree of wear and tear of its molars; when the last teeth fall out, the elephant loses the ability to chew food normally and dies of hunger. The causes of death are also accidents, injuries and diseases; elephants suffer from arthritis, tuberculosis and blood diseases (septicemia). Overall, humans are the only predator that has a major impact on elephant populations.
Role in the ecosystem
Because of their size, elephants have a significant impact on environment. It is estimated that for one elephant to feed for a year, vegetation is needed from an area of \u200b\u200babout 5 km 2. When feeding, elephants often fell trees to get to the upper branches and leaves, rip off the bark from the trunks, destroy grass and shrubs, trample the soil, which leads to its erosion and desertification of the landscape. In place of the tree and shrub vegetation they destroy, dry grassy steppes appear, unsuitable for herbivores and the elephants themselves. At the same time, elephants help disperse the seeds of plants that pass through their digestive tract undigested, such as the African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum). In the pits dug by elephants in search of salt, many small animals find refuge. In the past, the length of the annual migrations of elephants reached many hundreds of kilometers, and the damaged vegetation had time to recover. However, at present, when elephant migrations are severely limited by the fragmentation of their range, economic activity human and the concentration of a significant part of the elephants in national parks, their growing population can cause serious damage to vegetation.
forest african elephant
Height forest elephant at the withers, it averages 2.40 m. Thus, it is much smaller than elephants living in the savannah. Also, the forest elephant has a thicker brown hairline and rounded ears. As its name suggests, the African forest elephant lives in tropical forests Africa and plays an important role in seed dispersal of many plants.
Detachment calluses
Systematic position
Kingdom Animals Animalia
Type Chordates Chordata
Subtype Cranial (Vertebrate) Vertebrata (Craniata)
Superclass Tetrapoda Tetrapoda
Class Mammals Mammalia
Subclass Real Beasts Theria
Infraclass Placentals (Higher Beasts) Eutheria
Order Artiodactyla Artiodactyla
Suborder CornopodsTylopoda
Family Camelidae
Genus Camels Paracamelus
View Bactrian (bactrian camel) Camelus bactrianus
SpeciesDromedar (one-humped camel) Camelus dromedarius
Genus Vicuña Vicugna
View Vicugna Vicugna vicugna
Alpaca view Vicugna pacos
Genus Lama Lama
View of Guanaco Lama guanicoe
View Lama - Lama glama
About 40 million years ago in the then subtropical forests North America lived a nondescript animal Protylopus, judging by its fossil remains, similar to a hare. From this distant ancestor came many different animals that continued to evolve, and four million years ago there was a mammal known to us as a camel. Some of these species migrated in a northwesterly direction and across the isthmus at the site of the current Bering Strait spread throughout Asia and Africa, settling in areas that, by the nature of the landscape and climate, belong to the most severe on our planet.
About two million years ago, some of the species that remained in North America and by this time had evolved into the predecessors of modern llamas, alpacas and vicunas, reached the South American Andes and adapted to life in the highlands, where the air is rarefied and always cold; and their relatives in North America meanwhile died out.
Genus Camels
Camelus combines medium and large ungulates, with a body length of 220-340 cm, a tail length of 55-75 cm, a height at the withers of 180-210 cm. The mass ranges from 450 to 650 kg.
The forelimbs have an undivided sole. Long hind limbs with strongly developed knee calluses. The tail is long with a tuft of hair at the end. The neck is curved. The eyes are large with heavy lids. The ears are small, rounded, completely covered with hair. Slit-like nostrils are able to close. The upper lip is deeply divided. A groove runs from the nostrils to the upper lip.
On the back is one or two skin humps formed by adipose tissue. When a camel is well fed, its hump sticks up, while when it is emaciated, it hangs to one side. The color of the hairline varies from dark brown to gray. Elongated hair is found on the head, neck, humps, thighs and the tip of the tail; the rest of the body is covered with a dense hairy coat about 50 mm high. On the back of the head in males and females is a pair of specific skin glands about 6 cm in diameter.
Camels are widespread in the wild in the Trans-Altai Gobi in Mongolia and, possibly, in the adjacent regions of China. Domestic camels are bred in Africa, on the Arabian Peninsula, in the Front, Lesser and Central Asia, in the southwestern United States.
They live in steppes and semi-deserts, but prefer shrub and gravelly deserts. Apparently, they feed in the morning and evening, and rest in the middle of the day and at night.
Wild camels are found singly or in pairs, but more often in groups of 4-6. Herds of 12-15 heads are rare. Max speed running about 16 km/h. It tolerates heat and cold well. At high temperatures and dry food for a long time cannot remain without water. Drinks brackish and even salty water. Can drink up to 57 liters of water at one time. Eats almost everything that grows in the desert. It needs halophytes, without which it loses mass. The rut happens in winter - in January - February. The only cub is born in March. Pregnancy lasts 370-440 days. By the end of the first day after birth, the cub moves almost freely. The lactation period is about a year.
Bactrian
Bactrian (lat. Camelus bactrianus) or two-humped camel is a species of mammal from the camelid family. Distributed in Asia as a pet for transportation of goods, however, it wild populations extremely few and under threat. In some taxonomists, wild Bactrians are classified as a separate species, Camelus ferus. Contents [remove]
Bactrians are easily distinguished from dromedaries by their two humps. Their length reaches 3 meters, and the height at the withers is from 180 to 230 cm. The average weight of a Bactrian is from 450 to 500 kg. The tail is relatively short, its length is only about 45 cm. The color of the coat varies from sandy gray to dark brown, and the most long hair are located on the front and back of the neck. During the winter, Bactrians have a very thick and long coat, and when the temperature rises, it falls off so quickly that these animals often give a tattered impression. Representatives of wild populations differ from domesticated animals, among other things, in that their hair is lighter and thinner, and their physique is more slender and humps are sharper.
Bactrians have a long neck, on which an elongated head is located. The upper lip is split, and the eyes are framed to protect from winds and sand. long eyelashes. Bactrians, like dromedaries, are able to close their nostrils. On the feet, like all camelids, there are two toes, resting not on the hooves, but on the callus layer. The stomach consists of three chambers that facilitate the process of digestion of plant foods.
The humps serve, contrary to popular belief, not to store water, but to store fat. In addition, the Bactrians have some features that allow them to survive in uninhabitable regions. Strongly elongated nephrons in the kidneys cause a high concentration of urine. The feces are also much more concentrated than those of other mammals. Another feature is erythrocytes, which are not round, but oval in shape. Thanks to this, Bactrians can drink a lot of water in a short time without the risk of getting the so-called hyperhydration. The body temperature of Bactrians fluctuates significantly more than that of most other mammals. Its fluctuations can be up to 8 ° C, which reduces the risk of overheating of the body, as well as sweating.
Spreading
The original range of two-humped camels extended almost throughout Central Asia, including northeastern China. Already in the third millennium BC, the domestication of these animals began, which are used to transport goods to this day. The total population of Bactrian camels living in captivity is estimated at 2.5 million. They are found from Asia Minor to Manchuria. The northern border of its range reaches Omsk and Lake Baikal, that is, 55 ° north latitude.
Wild populations as a result of hunting were increasingly declining. In 2003, the WCA estimated that there were only 950 wild individuals in three separate population groups. One of them lives in the Takla Makan desert, the other in the Lob Nor lowland in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, the third in the Mongolian part of the Gobi Desert.
Bactrians are adapted to living in very dry areas. AT winter months they stick to rivers, and summer ones go to dry steppes and deserts. It is noteworthy that in their living space, temperatures fluctuate up to 70°C: from -30°C to +40°C.
Social behavior and activity time
Bactrians are active during the day and live in harem groups of about 15 animals. These groups consist of one male, several females and their offspring. There are also individuals living alone. The average population density is five animals per 100 km².
Food
Like all camels, Bactrians are herbivores capable of consuming all types of plant foods. The digestive system of Bactrian camels resembles that of ruminants, to which, however, they are not zoologically classified. This is based primarily on the fact that the digestive systems of both groups developed independently of each other in evolutionary terms, which is manifested, among other things, in the abundance of glands in the anterior stomach of camels.
Bactrians can go many days without water and drink more than 100 liters in a matter of minutes. Mentioned character traits their physiology helps to conserve water in the body. In addition, Bactrians are distinguished by the ability to drink salty and stagnant water.
reproduction
After a pregnancy lasting from twelve to fourteen months, the female gives birth to a single cub. More than that is the exception. Most births fall in March and April. Newborn Bactrians already after a few hours get on their feet and begin to walk. mother's milk bactrian camels feed for one and a half years, puberty occurs at the age of three to five years. The average life expectancy of these animals is about 40 years.
Dromedar
One-humped camel (lat. Camelus dromedarius) or dromedary is a species of mammal from the camelid family. It is distributed in many regions of Asia and Africa as a pet for transportation of goods or riding, but its wild populations have become extinct in our time. The name "dromedary" comes from the Greek word δρομάς, which means "running".
Unlike Bactrians, dromedaries have only one hump. Their length reaches from 2.3 to 3.4 m, and the height at the withers is from 1.8 to 2.3 m. The weight of dromedaries is from 300 to 700 kg. The tail is relatively short, not longer than 50 cm. one-humped camel usually sandy in color, but other colors are also found: from white to dark brown. Top part head, neck and back are covered with longer hair.
One-humped camels have a long neck, on which an elongated head is located. The upper lip is bifurcated, and the nostrils are slit-shaped and the camel can close them if necessary. He has very long eyelashes on his eyelids. On the knees, feet and other parts of the body, the one-horned camel has numerous calluses. On the feet, like all camelids, there are only two fingers, crowned not with hooves, but with corn pads. The stomach consists, like that of close relatives, of several chambers, which facilitates digestion with vegetable nutrition.
One-humped camels have a habit of scratching their bodies with their front or hind legs, for this purpose they rub against trees. They love to wallow in the sand. Prefer desert arid habitats with a long dry season and short period rain. The migration of dromedaries to countries with other climatic conditions was not successful, as they are sensitive to cold and humidity.
Adaptation to arid climate allows one-humped camels to live in desert regions. They are able to do without drinking water for a long time, being able to store it in large quantities in their body. The hump on the back contains reserves of fat, which the camel's body gradually uses for energy. Camels store fluid not in the hump, but in the stomach. The kidneys of the dromedary are very thorough in extracting fluid, leaving very concentrated urine. Almost all liquid is also removed from the feces before excretion.
The body temperature of a one-humped camel drops sharply at night, and warms up slowly during the day, without causing the animal to sweat. During a particularly dry season, a humped camel is able to lose more than 25% of its body weight without dying of thirst or hunger. Camels drink very quickly and can compensate for all the weight lost in ten minutes.
Spreading
Dromedars are common as pets throughout North Africa and throughout the Middle East as far as India. The southern boundary of their distribution area is approximately 13° north latitude, and the northernmost point of their habitat is Turkestan, where, as in Asia Minor, they are found together with the Bactrians. Dromedaries were introduced in the Balkans, in southwest Africa and in the Canary Islands. From 1840 to 1907 they were even imported to Australia, where to this day the descendants of released or runaway specimens live in the central regions. This population, which numbers between 50,000 and 100,000 individuals, is today the only large population of one-humped camels in the world living in the wild. A population of one-humped camels that appeared in a similar way also existed in the southwestern United States, but died out at the beginning of the 20th century.
social behavior
Dromedaries are active during the daytime. Camels living in the wild usually form harem groups consisting of one male, several females and their offspring. Growing males often unite in groups of bachelors, which, however, do not last long. Sometimes fights take place between males (bites and kicks), in which the role of the leader in the group is determined.
Food
The dromedary is a herbivore that feeds on thorny plants, dry grass and shrubs - almost everything that grows in the desert. It plucks young shoots, which make up 70% of its diet. About 8-12 hours a day, the dromedary grazes and chews food for a long time. Camels are able to get food at a height of 3.5 m, peeling off branches or eating leaves on the go. Each serving is chewed 40-50 times. While they are chewing on the thorns, the mouth is kept open. Animals tend to go around large areas and pluck a few leaves from each plant. This type of nutrition reduces the load on plants. In addition to plant food, dromedaries need salt (6-8 times more than other desert inhabitants) to conserve water supplies.
reproduction
Mating occurs mainly in winter and is associated with the rainy season. The duration of pregnancy is from 360 to 440 days, after which, as a rule, a single cub is born; twins are rarely born. Newborns walk independently after the first day. The mother takes care of the offspring from one to two years, and the transition from milk to plant foods occurs after only six months. Two years after giving birth, the female can become pregnant again.
The female reaches sexual maturity at the age three years, in males, it occurs at the age of four to six years. The average life expectancy of a one-humped camel is 40 to 50 years.
Vicuña genus
The genus Vicuña - Vicugna - unites the smallest of the four humpless "camels" that live in divided herds: old males with a dozen females, young males with their own company. Each herd has a territory protected by a leader. When a foreign male invades her, the owner jumps towards him and spits half-digested grass at him. He spits back, but usually tries not to hit the enemy if he sees that the enemy is strong. Otherwise, it will come to the teeth - spitting is only a warning, and the teeth are sharp!
Vicuñas graze high in the mountains, at the edge of the snow, in the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The coat of the vicuña is superior in fineness and lightness to that of any other ungulate that people have ever sheared. However, the vicunas themselves were rarely sheared: they were never homemade. However, the Indians in the Andes manage, by luring a flock into a corral, to shear one wild "sheep" after another. Then, shorn, released into the wild.
Vicuna
Vicugna (lat. Vicugna vicugna) is an animal from the camelid family, the only representative of the genus Vicugna. Outwardly, the vicuña resembles a guanaco, but is smaller and more slender.
The length of the vicuña is 150 cm, the height at the shoulders is about a meter, and the weight is 50 kg. On the back, the vicuña is painted light brown, below it is lighter. The coat is noticeably finer than that of the related species, and thick enough to serve as an insulating layer against the cold. The anatomical feature of the vicuña is the lower incisor teeth, which, like those of rodents, are constantly growing. Nothing like this is found in other artiodactyls.
Spreading
Vicuñas are common in the Andes of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. They are found at an altitude of 3500 to 5500 meters. Like guanacos, vicuñas live in ancestral herds with clearly defined ranges and are led by the main male. In addition to them, there are groups of young male bachelors who, due to their immature age, are not yet able to defend their own territory. Also, there are lonely old males expelled from the herd by younger rivals.
Alpaca
The alpaca is a domestic artiodactyl animal descended from the vicuña (vigoni). Bred in the highland belt of South America (Andes).
The growth of alpacas does not exceed one meter, they weigh about 70 kilograms and have a soft and long fleece (its length reaches 15-20 cm on the sides). They live in the Andes at an altitude of 3500-5000 meters, in Ecuador, southern Peru, northern Chile and northern Bolivia.
Genus Lama - Lama
Lamas - Lama - along with camels and vicunas, one of three genera camelid families. These humpless animals are found exclusively in South America. From about the 7th millennium BC. the inhabitants of the mountainous regions began to develop such methods of hunting vicuñas and guanacos (varieties of wild llamas), which eventually led to the domestication of these animals. Guanacos provided the basis for domestic llamas, and their crossbreeding with vicuñas resulted in the alpaca. There is currently one wild type of llama, the guanaco, as well as two domesticated species, the llama and the alpaca. Crossbreeding is possible among them, and animals with mixed traits are often found.
Lama
Lama - Lama glama - differs from alpaca in larger size and more elongated head. Llama fur is in demand because of its fluffiness. They are bred in the highland belt of South America (Andes).
They were apparently domesticated long before the Spaniards first conquered South America. According to some scientists (for example, Herre-Negge, 1952), both the llama and the alpaca are descended from the guanaco.
The llama is not as strong as a donkey and not as fast as a horse. And yet, like a beast of burden, she surpasses them both. The llama can carry a load of up to 60 kilograms on its back. If the lama feels that the load is too heavy for her, she simply sits down and does not get up until she considers that the load is within her power. If anyone tries to force her to stand up, she will regurgitate what is contained in the first of her three stomachs and spit at that one with amazing accuracy and strength.
In general, llamas are quite obedient and, by treating them gently, the drover can lead a large caravan of llamas through difficult high mountain plateaus, where other pack animals cannot withstand the lack of oxygen. Since llamas do well in mountainous areas, they, like pack animals, provide people with indispensable help today, not only in the Andes, but also in the Italian Alps.
Lamas were bred (still Incas) and bred (mountain Indians) because of their many valuable properties that are indispensable in a primitive economy.
"They weave blankets and weave ropes from their wool, sew sandals from leather, meat is used for food, fat for candles, and droppings for fuel" (Desmond Morris).
They carry packs on the backs of strong llamas - three-year-old males. The lama resolutely refuses to carry more than fifty kilograms. You can't force her to do anything! Lies and does not go. And they will goad - spitting, kicking, biting. It is better to lose a few extra pounds from her back - less hassle. Twenty-thirty kilometers a day, strings of pack lamas pass along steep mountain paths, where there is no other transport yet.
gunako
Guanaco - Lama guanicoe - is larger than all other corn-footed New World. Body length 125-225 cm, tail length 15-25 cm, height at the withers 70-130 cm. Weight up to 75 kg. The neck is thin, almost straight. The profile of the muzzle is straight. big eyes, upper eyelid with long eyelashes. Ears are long. The lips are not particularly large. The tail is short, on the lower surface it has almost no hair. The hairline is dense and soft. On the front of the chest, the vicuña has elongated hair forming a kind of mane. The color of the hairline varies from reddish-yellow to brownish-reddish. The belly is whitish. On the inner and outer sides of the metatarsus, there are usually exposed lanceolate-shaped skin areas rich in glands with a keratinized surface of black or gray-brown color - "chestnuts". Nails grey-black. The lower incisors of the vicuña have open roots, constant growth, and enamel on the outer surface only.
Distributed in South America from southern Ecuador to La Plata and Tierra del Fuego. They live in steppes, semi-deserts and mountains from the foothills to the snow line (up to 5 thousand meters above sea level). They feed on herbaceous plants, mosses, willingly visit salt licks, watering places, and they can use brackish or salty water. They like to stand or lie in mountain streams, swim well.
Rutting in November - February in guanacos and from April to June in vicuñas. The gestation period is 10 months for vicuñas and 11 for guanacos. Usually one cub is born, which is able to follow the mother very quickly after birth. The lactation period is about 4 months. They begin to feed on grass already in the second week of life. Maturity occurs at 1.5 or 2.5-3 years. Life expectancy up to 15-30 years. They usually live in small groups. In guanacos, herds consist of one male and 4-10 females, and in vicuña, one male and 5-15 females. Able to run fast at speeds up to 50-55 km / h.
It may seem that this beautiful, slender creature is pampered and requires special care. However, usually guanacos can be found in areas where the climate is quite severe: from the mountain peaks of the Andes to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, located in southern Argentina and Chile. Living in such harsh conditions, guanacos feed on the stems and roots of plants and drink even poor quality water. Guanacos can swim and run at a speed of 65 kilometers per hour. Thick eyelashes protect their eyes from the sun, wind and dust. Unfortunately, poachers have exterminated a large number of these animals for meat, skin and wool, which is softer than that of alpacas.
And in the high Andes and in the flat prairies (but not in the forests) their small herds graze: several females with cubs and one adult male. Young males, which the old one does not let near his herd (spits, bites very hard), unite in larger herds.
Proboscis - a detachment of mammals, which includes the elephant family and their extinct species relatives (mastodons, mammoths, dinoteria). A distinctive feature of the detachment is the presence of a trunk in all its representatives. Marshes became the distribution area of the ancestors of mammals. Therefore, as a result of evolution, they had a device for breathing in water - a trunk: its initial dimensions were quite small compared to today's elephant trunks. Later, the respiratory organ, equipped with powerful muscles, began to be used for grasping purposes, with its help, animals plucked leaves and fruits from trees, grass, and on a hot day they made a shower from water or mud.
The trunk is a fused and elongated nose and upper lip. It is driven by about fifty thousand muscles.
Another feature that unites the squad is thick skin that resists water pressure, allowing the animal to breathe normally. Proboscis tusks are modified teeth: fangs or incisors. With their help, animals remove the bark from trees, dig up salt deposits in the ground, and also protect themselves from enemies. Elephants have two tusks, represented by incisors. An extinct species, the mastodons, had four. They grow all their lives; during the excavations, tusks were found that reached a length of 4 m.
At present, the proboscis order includes only the elephant family, which in turn is divided into two species: Asian and African elephants. These are the largest mammals, all members of the family are herbivores. The main habitat of animals are meadows, but due to their unpretentiousness in the choice of food, they can be found in desert areas, in forests, in swampy areas. African elephants are slightly taller than their Asian relatives, females and males (in Asians only males) have tusks. Elephants have no hair. The tail is poorly developed. During the movement, the cub, in order to keep up with the herd, clings to the tail of an adult relative. Intestinal bacteria help animals to digest plant foods, but they only cope with this task by 60%.
Option 2
Proboscis are mammals that have a distinctive feature from other animals - a trunk. The only representatives of animals belonging to this class are elephants. There are many interesting facts about them that every connoisseur should know.
Elephants are one of a kind, they are considered giants because they are about 4 meters tall and weigh up to 7 tons. There are also smaller individuals, whose growth is up to 3 m, but the African elephant weighs about 8 tons and looks like a giant. The skin of elephants is thick - 2 cm, the skin of adults is wrinkled, without hairline. When a cub is born, it has hairline, which disappears over time.
The head of an elephant is round, his ears serve him not only as a means of perceiving sound, but they also protect the elephant from the heat, when it becomes necessary to cool down, he simply waves his ears. Although the elephant is a gigantic animal, it walks silently, but it cannot jump.
The trunk plays a huge role, it performs a whole host of functions, for starters, it is worth noting that the trunk is equipped with large quantity muscles and tendons. When an elephant wants to bathe, he draws water into his trunk and waters himself during the heat. Also on the tip of the trunk are the lips and nose, unique, isn't it? An elephant gets food with its trunk, feeds itself, feeds its offspring.
Elephant tusks grow throughout their lives, so that the massiveness and length of the tusks can determine the approximate age of the animal. The elephant's tail is long, almost to the very ground, at the end of the tail there are dense long hairs in the form of a brush, just with this brush the elephant fights off flies.
Although the elephant is a giant, he is an excellent swimmer, if you look at his speed while running, he runs at speeds up to 50 km. per hour, and quietly goes 5 km. in hour. These animals are among the centenarians, elephants live on average up to 65 years, in some cases even longer.
In captivity, elephants rarely breed because there are no favorable conditions for this, such as temperature regime and freedom. In the wild, an elephant can bring offspring every 4 years. By the age of 12, the female is ready to bear a baby, and the males reach sexual maturity by the 15th year of life. The female elephant bears the cub for 22 months, before giving birth, the female leaves her herd, but does not go far from it, several elephants go with her to protect her and the newborn baby from predators. Sometimes, if there are difficulties during childbirth, elephants help to stretch the baby. Basically, a baby is born alone, it is rare when you can find that an elephant gave birth to two elephants at once.
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What are proboscis mammals? Representatives of these animals appeared millions of years ago. Find out how many species exist now, which ones they have.
proboscis mammals
When the word "proboscis" usually arises only a few associations - elephants and mammoths. And rightly so, because the proboscis squad includes only the elephant family. Proboscis mammals appeared in equatorial Africa approximately 45 million years ago. Then their range expanded to Africa, Eurasia, North and South America. Their distant ancestors are considered mastodons and mammoths.
Elephants are now common in Southeast Asia and Africa. They live in savannahs and tropical forests. They are social animals and real centenarians. Elephants die at the age of 60-80 years. They live in groups consisting of several females and cubs. Males only occasionally join them to find a mating partner.
For the sake of food, they are able to walk hundreds of kilometers. Elephants eat up to 500 kilograms of plant food per day, drink up to 300 liters of water. At the same time, animals digest no more than 40% of food. The basis of the diet is leaves, grass, fruits and tree bark.
Structural features
Their size is impressive. Elephants are huge herbivores with an average height of 2.5 to 4 meters and a length of up to 4.5 meters. proboscis mammals have a gigantic body, large head and large ears compared to humans. Leather gray color covered with sparse vegetation and fine wrinkles.
Huge ears help to cope with the heat by regulating the receipt and release of heat in the body. Additional cooling occurs when the ears are flapping. Thanks to these powerful locators, elephants are excellent at distinguishing sounds at a frequency of 1 kHz.
Their incisor teeth are greatly enlarged and are called tusks. For humans, they are a valuable material, so animals are often killed for the sake of ivory. Despite their impressive size, elephants walk quietly and softly due to the fat pad on their feet, which increases the foot area.
Why does an elephant need a trunk?
The trunk is an important and irreplaceable organ of elephants. It was formed by combining upper lip and nose. Equipped with muscles and tendons that allow the animal to use it instead of hands. With the help of this powerful and flexible tool, proboscis mammals can drag branches, logs, and pick fruits from trees.
The trunk also works as a sense organ. The nostrils located at its end help to smell odors. Thanks to the sensitivity of the trunk, elephants feel objects in order to recognize them. At a watering place, water is sucked up with a trunk, then sent to the mouth. The sounds made by this organ allow elephants to communicate.
Elephant species
Elephants are represented by only three species - African savannah, Indian, Forest. The latter is dwarfed in comparison to its brothers, reaching only two and a half meters in height. The body of the animal is covered with thick brown hair. It has rounded ears, which is why it is called round-eared. Together with the savannah elephant, the forest elephant is listed in the Red Book.
The African savannah is also listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest mammal in the world. The length of his body sometimes reaches seven meters, and the height at the shoulders - four. The average weight of males reaches 7 tons, while females have two tons less. They live mainly in reserves and national parks, some are common in the desert regions of Namibia and Mali, which is why they are called desert elephants.
Indian, or slightly smaller than the savannah. Its habitual habitat is bamboo thickets, tropical and deciduous forests. He is the only representative of the genus of Indian elephants and is considered an endangered species. There are several of its subspecies that live in Sri Lanka, Sumatra, India, China, Cambodia, and the island of Borneo.
Squad characteristics. Proboscidea are large mammals. They got their name because of the trunk, formed from the fusion of an elongated nose and upper lip.
Elephants. There are two types of elephants: African and Asian. The African elephant is larger than the Asian one, has a height of 3.5 m and weighs more than 5 tons. Elephants are the largest of all land animals, they live in tropical forests: African - in Central Africa, and Asian - in India and on the islands of Ceylon and Sumatra. Each of the five toes of the massive columnar foot of an elephant is dressed in a thin horny hoof. The main weight of the Body falls on a firm and at the same time elastic pillow located under the hand and under the foot. Thanks to this, the elephant moves quickly and silently, despite the bulkiness of the body. It is almost completely devoid of hair: thick skin protects the elephant from the bites of blood-sucking insects.
The elephant's trunk has great flexibility and strength. The nostrils are placed at the end of the trunk, and a fleshy and sensitive finger-like outgrowth is also located there. With a short, sedentary neck and a massive head, the value long trunk in the life of an elephant is huge: with a trunk, he gets food and water. An elephant detects small objects with a finger-like outgrowth of the trunk.
An elephant has tusks in its upper jaw, but none in its lower jaw. Tusks are modified and constantly growing incisors. With them, the elephant rips off the bark, and, if necessary, digs the ground. The African elephant's tusks reach a length of 2 m and a weight of about 80 kg. They are present in both males and females. The Asian elephant has tusks only for males. From a very dense substance of the tusks - "ivory" beautiful art products are cut out. For the sake of these tusks, elephants have now been severely exterminated.
In addition to tusks, elephants have a huge molar tooth on each half of the upper and lower jaws. There are no fangs. Every day, an elephant grinds with its molars several tens of kilograms of coarse plant food - branches and leaves. Every 10-15 years, old, worn teeth are replaced by new ones. The growing tooth displaces the old one and gradually becomes in that place. In the life of an elephant, there are about 6 changes of teeth. An elephant lives 60-80 years.
Once in 3-4 years, the female brings one cub covered with wool. After a few days, he can already follow his mother. Asian elephants they are easily tamed, although in captivity, as a rule, they do not breed. In captivity, elephants are docile and perform a variety of tasks.
Mammoth. In remote eras, the proboscis were more numerous. In Europe and North America, bones and teeth of elephant-like animals - mammoths - are found. In the permafrost zone of Siberia and Alaska, even their frozen corpses are found. The body of the mammoth was covered with thick long hair. On the treeless plains, mammoths also harvested plants in winter, raking the snow with huge tusks. The Zoological Museum in Russia exhibits the world's only stuffed mammoth.