Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the
family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus
extinct. Three living species of elephant are recognized: the African bush
elephant, the African forest elephant and the Indian or Asian elephant;
although some group the two African species into one and some researchers also
postulate the existence of a fourth species in West Africa.v All other species and genera of Elephantidae
are extinct. Most have been extinct since the last ice age, although dwarf
forms of mammoths might have survived as late as 2,000 BCE. Elephants and other
Elephantidae were once classified with other thick-skinned animals in a now
invalid order, Pachydermata.
Elephants are the largest living land animals on Earth
today.The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land
animal. At birth, an elephant calf typically weighs 105 kilograms (230 lb).
They typically live for 50 to 70 years, but the oldest recorded elephant lived
for 82 years.The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1955. This
male weighed about 10,900 kg (24,000 lb),[10] with a shoulder height of 3.96
metres (13.0 ft), 1 metre (3.3 ft) taller than the average male African
elephant. The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were
a prehistoric species that lived on the island of Crete during the Pleistocene
epoch.
Elephants are a symbol of wisdom in Asian cultures and are
famed for their memory and intelligence; their intelligence level is thought to
be comparable to that of dolphins and primates.Aristotle once said the elephant
was "the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind."The word
"elephant" has its origins in the Greek ἐλέφας, meaning "ivory" or
"elephant"
Healthy adult elephants have no natural predators, although
lions may take calves or weak individuals.They are, however, threatened by
human intrusion and poaching.
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