Features of the behavior of proboscis. Proboscis animals - message report (Squad Proboscis Mammals). See what the "Proboscis Detachment" is in other dictionaries
Distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. However, the range that was continuous in the past is now broken. The African elephant is not found in most of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Ethiopia; completely disappeared from Northern Somalia. From Sudan to the west, the range boundary now approximately coincides with 12 ° N. sh., however, separate isolated parts of the range remain to the north (near Lake Chad, in Mali, Mauritania).
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.
They inhabit a wide variety of landscapes (with the exception of rainforest and deserts) up to 3660 m above sea level, occasionally found up to 4570 m above sea level. The main requirement for the habitat is 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 switch to night image life. 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). Overall cognitive and perceptual abilities African elephants less studied than those of Asia.
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 move at a speed of 2-6 km / h, but on a short time can reach speeds 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.
They feed on plant food: leaves, branches, shoots, bark and roots of trees and shrubs, the proportions of feed depend on the habitat and season. During the wet season most The diet consists of herbaceous plants like papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) and cattail (Typha augustifolia). Old elephants feed mainly on swamp vegetation, which is less nutritious but softer, for this reason, fallen elephants are often found in swamps (hence the legend of the “elephant graveyards” 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. 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 covering a distance of about 12 km per day. In the past, the length seasonal migrations African elephants reached 300 km. Virtually all elephant migrations followed general scheme: 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: 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 can temporarily unite (Serengeti, Tanzania), observations have shown that some families of African elephants are in special relationships and spend significant 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 ranges of single 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 km 2.
Communication within the herd takes many forms, including vocalizations, 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 emit loud screams, twist their trunks and cross their tusks, flap their ears, urinate, etc. If the parting was short, the ceremony is reduced to patting the ears, trumpet "greetings" and touching 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.
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. Births take place at a distance from the rest of the herd, often the 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 mother.
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. Peak 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.
African elephants live up to 60-70 years, continuing to grow slowly throughout their lives. In captivity, their age reached 80 years.
forest african elephant
African Forest Elephant
(Loxodonta cyclotis)
Distributed in Central Africa. As its name suggests, the African forest elephant lives in tropical forests the Congo Basin and plays an important role in seed dispersal of many plants.
Height forest elephant at the withers, on average, is 2.4 m. Thus, it is much smaller than elephants living in the savannah. Also, the forest elephant has a denser hairline. Brown color and rounded ears. This elephant has more powerful and longer tusks, which helps him to wade through the dense thickets of the forest.
Forest elephants live in small family groups of 2 to 8 individuals, consisting mainly of several females and their offspring. Males are expelled from the group when they reach maturity. Males lead a solitary lifestyle and only during the breeding season are united in groups with other elephants. Forest elephants do not have a pronounced breeding season, but the peak falls on the rainy seasons. Pregnancy lasts about 22 months, after which 1 cub is born, twins are extremely rare.
Asian elephant
Asian Elephant
(Elephas maximus)
Currently area Indian elephants highly fragmented; in the wild, they are found in the countries of the Indo-Malay biogeographic region: South and Northeast India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southwest China, Malaysia (mainland and on the island of Borneo), Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra) and in Brunei.
The body length of an Indian elephant is 5.5-6.4 m, the tail is 1.2-1.5 m. They 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 Indian elephant is mainly a forest dweller. He 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 tolerate cold better 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. 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.
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 size. Agriculture.
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.
because of a large number 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 km 2 for males and 30 km 2 for gregarious females, increasing in size during the dry season.
Indian elephants are social animals. 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 a 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 of the time, however, males are quite tolerant of each other, and their feeding territories often overlap. 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 very high testosterone levels 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 her trunk, “sprays” dust and earth on him, drying the skin and masking his smell from large predators. After a few days, the cub is already able to follow the herd, holding the mother's tail with its trunk or older sister. 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.
In nature, Indian elephants live up to 60-70 years, in captivity - up to 80 years. Adult elephants do not have natural enemies; elephants can be attacked by tigers.
Detachment Proboscis
The detachment unites two types of elephants: African and Indian. These are the largest land mammals, which have a number of features. One of them is the presence of a trunk resulting from the fusion of the nose and upper lip. It serves as an organ of smell, touch and grasp. With a trunk, elephants sniff, feel, grab leaves, fruits, they can lift large trees, logs, and take small objects from the ground. The latter is possible due to the fact that there is a finger-like appendage at the end of the trunk.
Another feature of the proboscideans is the tusks, long curved incisors of the upper jaw that grow throughout life. There are no fangs, but there is one molar tooth on each side of the jaws. As the tooth wears out, it is replaced with a new one. The eyes are small, the ears are big. The body of these animals rests on thick legs with small hooves. The skin is thick and almost hairless, with hair in the form of a tuft at the end of a short tail.
summary of other presentations"Diversity of mammals" - Teeth. Artiodactyls. cetaceans. Lizards. Single pass. marsupials. Bats. Aardvarks. proboscis. Primates. Questions. Diversity of mammals. Odd-toed ungulates. variety of class members. Squads of mammals. Insectivores. Lagomorphs. Pinnipeds. Predatory. Rodents.
"Rhinos" - True, since rhinos are very clumsy, a person can easily escape by changing the trajectory of movement. Unlike Asian rhino species, African animals do not have skin folds. white rhino(lat. Ceratotherium simum). Black rhinoceros (lat. Diceros bicornis). Javan rhinoceros (lat. Rhinoceros sondaicus). Indian rhinos- unicorns. The black rhinoceros, like the white one, has two horns, one of which is smaller than the second.
"Elephants" - What are commonly referred to as fangs are actually just a pair of incisors in the upper jaw. Peculiar and dental system elephants. The elephant's leg is wonderfully arranged. Elephant skin is thick, almost devoid of hair, and indented with a frequent network of wrinkles. Therefore, in the course of evolution, fused together upper lip and the nose developed into an amazing appendage - the trunk. An elephant's trunk is much bigger than a human's hand.
"Mouse" - The tail is at least 90% in relation to the length of the body. House mice have well-developed sense organs. The diet also includes insects. Any available materials are used for the nest. Sense organs. Mouse. laboratory mice. Distribution and types. Weight - 12-30 g. Ears are rounded. Mouse skeletal tomogram. Often occupied by holes of other rodents: voles, gerbils. On the this moment About 130 subspecies of the house mouse have been described.
"Oviparous" - marsupial devil. Test. Gray oriental kangaroo. Possums. Baby kangaroo. Platypus. marsupials. Order of marsupials. The origin of mammals is pteriodont. Echidna. classification of mammals. Opposum. Class Mammals. Koala. Mammals that lay eggs and have a cloaca. Monotreme or oviparous. Marsupial flying squirrel. marsupial marten. marsupial wolf. The monotreme order is divided into two families: platypuses and echidnas.
"Higher Beasts" - Detachment Predatory. Useful animals. Consider the drawing. The amazing thing about animals. Let's collect material about bats. Put in the numbers. biological feature. Interview results. Bionics. Shrew. Pond nightlight. Animals. The bats. Wolf family. intermittent ultrasounds. Our favorites. collected material.
Proboscidea (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.
African and Indian elephant- all that remains 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.
The Indian elephant has pronounced brow ridges and a convex bump on the top of the head with a cleft in the middle; 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 is usually an 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 are bought by zoos and circuses around the world.
Indian elephants are inferior in size to African bush 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). By comparison, African bush 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. 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 bumps represent highest point body (an African elephant has 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 tuskless elephants have 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. To the differences in internal structure 19 pairs of ribs are also included instead of 21, as in the African elephant, and structural features of the molars - the transverse plates of dentin 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.
Which performs various functions, including the capture of food or water, the movement of objects, and interaction with other relatives. They also have specialized teeth for chewing vegetation, as well as tusks (second upper incisors) used for debarking trees, digging through soil for food, and fighting.
Classification
Currently, two living genera are distinguished in the proboscis squad:
- includes two modern species: savannah and forest elephant.
- includes one modern species: the Indian elephant.
Some extinct members of the proboscis order include:
- Meriterian family ( Moeritheridae) - animals that were characterized by small growth at the withers (about 70 cm) and a weight of approximately 235 kg.
- Deinotherid family ( Deinotheriidae) - the largest representatives of the detachment, whose weight exceeded 10 tons.
- Gomphoteriaceae family ( Gomphotheriidae) - most species had elephant-like trunks, but they differed from elephants in the structure of their teeth and the number of tusks (some had 4 tusks).
- Mastodon family ( Mammutidae) - included 3 genera. Some members of the family had a height at the withers of about 3 m.
- elephant family ( elephantidae listen)) - includes, elephants and stegodon.
Evolution
The first proboscis evolved and diversified in Africa during. Phosphatherium escuilliei is the earliest recognized proboscis ancestor from the Late Paleocene (58 Ma) in Morocco. Its height at the withers was less than a meter. Meriterium ( moerteryium) is another early proboscis that was about the size of a large pig, and probably did not have a trunk, although it is believed that it had a movable upper lip. In Egypt, Algeria, Libya and Senegal, fossils of two species were found in the late Eocene moerteryium (M. lyonsi and M. trigodon).
Other proboscis ancestors include Numidotherium ( Numidotherium), barytherium ( Barytherium) and dinotherium ( Deinotherium). The remains of these early proboscis have been found in North Africa along the southern coast of the Tethys Ocean, which existed in. Numidotherium grew about 1.5 meters in height and had a trunk as long as a tapir. Many remains of this early proboscis have been obtained from Middle Eocene deposits in Algeria.
There were two types of bariteria. One species was large, weighing about 3-4 tons and 2.5-3 meters high. The second species was smaller, about the size of moerteryium. Bariterium lived from the late to early Oligocene. At Deinotherium had a fully functioning trunk and tusks on the lower jaw. Deinotheres roamed the planet for 20 million years, living in Africa, Europe and Asia, starting from the middle; they survived in Eurasia until the Pliocene and in Africa until almost a million years ago.
Throughout their history, proboscis have shown a tendency to increase in size. The earliest known members of the order were moderately large, probably weighing around 120 kg; modern views very large (an adult male African elephant can weigh over 6,000 kg). The largest extinct representative of the proboscis order is the steppe mammoth ( Mammothus trogontherii) - was a huge animal, weighing about 9000 kg, which is 1/3 more than the weight of African elephants. Early proboscis had neither a trunk nor tusks. These body parts emerged in the process.
Distribution and habitat
African elephants are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Asian elephants are common in India, Nepal and South-East Asia. Elephants are able to survive in a wide variety of places due to the huge variety of food sources. Although these are one of their main ones, proboscis are also found in, near swamps, as well as in ecotones, which are transitional zones between.
Description
Modern elephants have a long, muscular trunk that functions almost like a fifth limb. In males Asian elephants, as well as female and male African elephants, have a pair of huge fangs (tusks), which are growing incisors of the upper jaw.
Their teeth are uniquely adapted to roughage. As with their ancestors, modern elephants have 6 molars. However, modern elephants the first three teeth are small and relatively simple. The fourth begins to grow at 4-5 years. It gradually moves forward of the jaw and after eight years is replaced by the fifth tooth. The sixth tooth begins to grow when the elephant reaches the age of about 25 years.
The skull of modern elephants is short and high. The skeleton of these mammals is adapted to attach the huge muscles that the animal needs for nutrition, self-defense and uprooting trees. The bones of the limbs are strong, and the toes are spread apart and supported by a pad of dense connective tissue.
A distinctive feature of these animals is their huge ears, with which they regulate body temperature and perfectly pick up sounds at a long distance.
Elephants live a long life (60-70 years).
diet
Elephants require a huge amount of food, more than 150 kg per individual per day. They are able to overwhelm big trees to get their leaves and bark. Elephant herds in the process of feeding can damage arable land or forests.
The diet of these animals consists of grass, leaves, tree bark, branches, root crops, fruits, etc. tree bark is a favorite food source for elephants. It contains calcium and is roughage which aids in digestion.
Elephants require between 68.4 and 98.8 liters of water daily, but they can consume up to 152 liters. An adult male is able to drink up to 212 liters of water in less than five minutes.
reproduction
Puberty in males occurs at the age of about 14 years, however, males who have reached 40-50 years old most often breed with females. Females tend to run away from males and this cat and mouse game can go on for a very long time before actual mating occurs.
Males rarely fight for the right to mate with a female. As a rule, young ones give way to older males. There are many suggestions that this is not out of fear, but out of respect.
Elephants have a long gestation period, which is about 22 months. Cubs can weigh up to 120 kg at birth.
After birth, the baby elephant receives care and protection from his own mother, as well as from other females of the herd. Parenting together allows new mothers to eat well and produce nutritious milk for their babies. Baby elephants can drink up to 40 liters of mother's milk every day.
It is believed that the offspring of elephants do not have the same high level of survival instincts as other animals. This is why cubs rely so much on their mothers and other females in the herd. They learn faster and acquire new skills all the time.
population
The population of African elephants is estimated to be between 400,000 and 660,000 individuals. The IUCN lists the African elephant as critically endangered.
All Asian elephant subspecies are currently classified as endangered by the IUCN, with total strength population ranges from 25,600 to 32,750 individuals. Subspecies Asian elephant- Indian elephant ( Elephas maximus indicus) - is the most numerous (from 20,000 to 25,000 individuals).
Threats
Today, most elephants live in national parks that help them survive. Under these conditions, it is possible to track the size of the animal population, but limited areas are not very suitable for elephants, who like to travel huge distances.
One of the reasons elephants have been able to survive for so long in the wild is due to their high levels of intelligence. Although they have their own natural habitat, they also have a mentality that allows them to determine when they need to move on and adapt to new conditions in order to survive.
They have no natural predators other than humans. One of the biggest threats to elephants in the wild is the constant destruction of their natural environment a habitat. This gives them fewer opportunities to find adequate food supplies. When elephants are limited certain places, they can completely destroy the vegetation. The result is a threat.
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