the.com/elephant
a four-ton genius that mourns its dead and never forgets the grudge
means A very large herbivorous mammal native to Africa and Asia, distinguished by its long muscular trunk, fan-like ears, and (in many) curved ivory tusks.
from From Old French 'olifant' and Latin 'elephantus,' both tracing to Greek 'elephas' (genitive 'elephantos'), which meant both the animal and its ivory. The Greek word's deeper roots are murky — it's possibly a borrowing from an Egyptian or Semitic source, perhaps related to words for ivory, though no one can prove the trail. Curiously, the same ancient stock may lie behind Latin 'ebur' (ivory) and even the Hebrew/Phoenician word for the tusk, suggesting traders carried both the creature's reputation and its name across the Mediterranean long before most Europeans had seen one in the flesh.
- brain power
- Recognizes itself in mirrors, like dolphins and humans
- grief rituals
- Returns to bones, touching them gently for years
- infrasound calls
- Talks through ground vibrations miles away
- trunk muscles
- Around 40,000, can pluck a single blade
- can't jump
- The only mammal entirely incapable of it
african forest elephant — distinct species with 2 fingers on trunk tip vs 1 finger for savanna elephants, found in congo basin
asian elephant — smaller ears and single dome head, found across 13 asian countries from india to borneo
tusker of amboseli — tim the tusker, famous kenya bull with 6-foot tusks, studied since 1973 in amboseli national park