#Mythical elephant predators skin#

Commonly, African elephants live in savannahs, and Asian elephants in scrub forests.Įlephants are herbivores. They can be found in deserts, marshes, lakeshores, and high and low elevations. They’re thought to have an incredible sense of smell, up to four times as powerful as the most skilled dog species.Įlephants have a wide variety of habitats they prefer. The trunk is an incredibly useful appendage that the elephant can use to touch other elephants, pick up objects, breathe, and smell. The elephant’s truck is part-nose and part upper lip. Read more about the current conservation status of elephants below. They are an integral part of the elephant’s body and are, unfortunately, often a target of poachers. They are used for digging, fighting, marking trees, and more. They are modified second incisors that they develop from a young age.

#Mythical elephant predators skin#

This is a technique that they use in order to protect their skin from sun damage, insect bites, and loss of moisture.Įlephants are also well-known for their large tusks. Often, elephants are seen covered in mud. But, the Asian elephant is considered to have more hair coverage than the African elephant. The three species can vary slightly regarding the exact pigmentation of their skin. They reach heights of seven feet seven inches and weigh around 2.5 tons.Įlephants have tough, grey-to-brown skin when they’re fully grown. The smallest species is the African forest elephant.

Females can be eight feet in height and weigh up to 3.4 tons. Females of the same species grow up to nine feet in height and weigh four tons.Īsian elephants are slightly smaller, with males growing to around nine feet tall and weighing five tons. Males are between ten and eleven feet tall and weigh between 5.7 and 7.6 tons. Of the three elephant species, the African bush elephant is the largest. They are well-known for their incredible tusks, trunks, and intelligence.Ĭurrently, there are three living species of elephant:Įlephants are related to mammoths and straight-tusked elephants, two extinct members of the family Elephantidae.Īs noted above, elephants are the largest land animal currently living on Earth. They are also the largest land mammal on the planet. We’ll explore these differences and exciting facts about these two animals below.Įlephants are a keystone species within the Earth’s ecosystems. Elephants have a more diverse diet, especially among the African and Asian species. But, the majority of the hippo and elephant population is in Africa.

Hippos prefer areas around lakes and rivers. This includes deserts, savannahs, scrub forests, and more. Habitat: Elephants live in a broader range of habitats.Male hippos weigh up to 1,500 kg or 3,310 lb. Size: Elephants are heavier, reaching 5.7 to 7.6 tons.They have wide tampering ears, long trunks, and famous sharp ivory tusks they use for fighting and marking their territory. Elephants, on the other hand, are far larger: the largest living land mammals on Earth, in fact. Appearance: Hippos are dense with barrel-shaped bodies, small ears, thick legs, and sharp canine teeth.Here are the top five main differences between an elephant and a hippo: Main Differences Between an Elephant and a Hippo The dominant male has the right to mate with any of the female hippos in the group. Hippos also live in groups, of up to thirty members, but they follow a more common patriarchal order. Scientists have ranked elephants as comparable to dolphins regarding problem-solving, memory, and more. But, there are some significant differences readers can explore below.Įlephants are well-known for their matriarchal, tightly-knit groups that depend on a hierarchical social structure as well as for their incredible intelligence. Both the elephant and hippo are found primarily in Africa, feed on grasses and other plants, and spend time around other members of their species.