Who are proboscis mammals? Representatives of these animals appeared millions of years ago. Find out how many species exist now, what distinguishing features they have.
Proboscis mammals
At the word "proboscis" usually only a few associations arise - elephants and mammoths. And this is correct, because the Proboscis squad includes only a family of elephants. Proboscis mammals appeared in equatorial Africa about 45 million years ago. Then their range expanded to Africa, Eurasia, North and South America. Mastodons and mammoths are considered their distant ancestors.
Currently, elephants are common in Southeast Asia and Africa. They live in savannahs and rainforests. They are social animals and true centenarians. Elephants aged 60-80 years die. They live in groups of several females and cubs. Males only occasionally join them to find a mating partner.
For the sake of food, they are able to travel hundreds of kilometers. Elephants eat up to 500 kilograms of plant foods per day, drink up to 300 liters of water. At the same time, animals absorb no more than 40% of the food. The basis of the diet is made up of leaves, grass, fruits and tree bark.
Structural features
Their sizes are impressive. Elephants are huge herbivores with an average height of 2.5 to 4 meters, a length of up to 4.5 meters. Proboscis mammals have a gigantic, compared to humans, body, large head and large ears. Gray skin is covered with sparse vegetation and fine wrinkles.
Huge ears help to cope with heat by regulating the receipt and release of heat in the body. Additional cooling occurs with a sweep of the ears. Thanks to these powerful locators, elephants perfectly distinguish sounds at a frequency of 1 kHz.
The teeth-incisors in them are greatly enlarged and are called tusks. For humans, they are valuable material, so animals are often killed for the sake of ivory. Despite their impressive size, elephants walk quietly and softly due to the fat pad on their feet, which increases the foot area.
Why does the elephant trunk?
The trunk is an important and indispensable organ of elephants. It was formed by the union of the upper lip and nose. Equipped with muscles and tendons that allow the animal to use it instead of arms. With this powerful and flexible tool, proboscis mammals can drag branches, logs, pick fruits from trees.
The trunk also works as a sensory organ. The nostrils located on its end help to perceive smells. Thanks to the sensitivity of the trunk, elephants feel objects to recognize them. At a watering hole, water is sucked into the trunk, then sent to the mouth. Sounds made with this organ allow elephants to communicate.
Types of Elephants
Elephants are represented by only three species - African savannah, Indian, Forest. The latter has dwarf sizes, in comparison with its brothers, and reaches only two and a half meters in height. The body of the animal is covered with a thicker brown hair. It has round ears, which is why it is called round-eared. Together with the savannah elephant, the forest is listed in the Red Book.
The African savannah is also listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest mammal in the world. The length of his body sometimes reaches seven meters, and the height at the shoulders is four. The average mass of males reaches 7 tons, and in females two tons less. They live mainly in reservations and national parks, partly distributed in the desert regions of Namibia and Mali, which is why they are called desert elephants.
An Indian or Asian elephant is slightly smaller in size than a savannah. Its habitual habitat is bamboo thickets, tropical and deciduous forests. He is the only representative of the genus of Indian elephants and is considered an endangered species. There are several subspecies of it that live in Sri Lanka, Sumatra, India, China, Cambodia, and the island of Borneo.