African elephant

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African elephants

An African Bush Elephant Loxodonta africana in Paignton Zoo, England

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Proboscidea
Family:	Elephantidae
Genus:	Loxodonta Anonymous, 1827

Distribution of Loxodonta africana (2007)

Species

Loxodonta adaurora (extinct)
Loxodonta africana
Loxodonta cyclotis

African elephants are the two species of elephants in the genus Loxodonta, one of the two existing genera in Elephantidae. Although it is commonly believed that the genus was named by Georges Cuvier in 1825, Cuvier spelled it Loxodonte. An anonymous author romanized the spelling to Loxodonta and the ICZN recognizes this as the proper authority.^[1]

Fossil Loxodonta have only been found in Africa, where they developed in the middle Pliocene.

1 Species
2 Conservation
3 References
4 External links

Loxodonta adaurora, extinct, presumed antecedent of the modern African elephants.
African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana).^[1]
African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis).^[1]

Bush and Forest Elephants were formerly considered subspecies of the same species Loxodonta africana. However, they are nowadays generally considered to be two distinct species ^[1]. The African Forest Elephant has a longer and narrower mandible, rounder ears, a different number of toenails, straighter and downward tusks, and considerably smaller size. With regard to the number of toenails: the African Bush Elephant normally has 4 toenails on the frontfoot and 3 on the hindfoot, the African Forest Elephant normally has 5 toenails on the frontfoot and 4 on the hindfoot (like the Asian elephant), but hybrids between the two species commonly occur.

Poaching significantly reduced the population of Loxodonta in certain regions during the 20th century. An example of this poaching pressure is in the eastern region of Chad—elephant herds there were substantial as recently as 1970, with an estimated population of 400,000; however, by 2006 the number had dwindled to about 10,000. The African elephant nominally has governmental protection, but poaching is still a serious issue.^[2]

Human encroachment into or adjacent to natural areas where bush elephants occur has led to recent research into methods of safely driving groups of elephants away from humans, including the discovery that playback of the recorded sounds of angry honey bees are remarkably effective at prompting elephants to flee an area.^[3]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Shoshani, Jeheskel (November 16, 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 91. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
^ Goudarzi, Sara (2006-08-30). 100 Slaughtered Elephants Found in Africa. LiveScience.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-31.
^ Lucy E. King, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Fritz Vollrath (2007) African elephants run from the sound of disturbed bees. Current Biology 17: R832-R833

Elephant Information Repository - An in-depth resource on elephants
"Elephant caves" of Mt Elgon National Park
ElephantVoices - Resource on elephant vocal communications
Amboseli Trust for Elephants - Interactive web site

A close-up from the Addo Elephant Park, South Africa.	Bull elephants mock fighting on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.	Bull elephant in the Sabi Sands of South Africa.	A breeding herd of elephants comprised of entirely cows and young in the Makuleke area of the Kruger Park, South Africa.
A young bull elephant in a breeding herd displaying mock aggression.