What is the difference between african and asian elephants

Asian and African elephants have distinctly different head shapes, making them easy to tell apart from a distance. African elephants have fuller, more rounded heads, and the top of their head is a single dome shape. Asian elephants have a twin-domed head with an indent running up the center of their head.

The Asian elephant right has a clear double dome at the top of its head. Perhaps an even more obvious way to distinguish an African vs Asian elephant from a distance is to look at their ears. African elephants have much larger ears, shaped a little like the continent of Africa. Both elephant species use their ears to dissipate body heat, and as African elephants live in hotter climates with more direct sunlight than Asian elephants they need to dissipate more heat.

Hence the larger ears:. The African elephant left has much larger ears, shaped like the African continent. The African elephant is the larger of the two elephants, with bulls growing up to 4 meters tall. By contrast, the biggest Asian males reach no more than 3.

Because of the differences in their size, adult African elephants weigh between 4, and 8,kg, whilst Asian elephants are lighter, weighing in at between and 6,kg. Not all elephants have tusks. Both male and female African elephants can have tusks, but only male Asian elephants have tusks.

Female Asian elephants have rudimentary tusks called tushes , which can be also found in some males. They live in herds that are led by the oldest female.

Males leave the herd to live on their own or with small groups of other males. Older elephants are often poached for their longer tusks, leaving the herd without a leader who knows where food and water sources are. You can help elephants in the wild by not purchasing things made from ivory, and voting on measures to stop trafficking of wildlife products. Fun Fact: There is actually a third species, or type, of elephant. As their names suggest, one point of difference is where they're found.

Asian elephants are also smaller than their African cousins and have a shorter lifespan, around 60 years in the wild. A majestic African elephant running toward the camera. Besides the size, one of the most noticeable differences between African and Asian elephants is the shape of their ears. African elephants have ears which resemble the shape of the African continent, while the ears of Asian elephants are rounder and smaller.

Unlike their smooth-headed African counterparts, Asian elephants have a distinctly humped skull maybe they store double the wisdom up there for later? Asian elephants may have twice the head-space, but African elephants have twice the grip:. Asian elephants use their single finger to curl around food, which they then squeeze up into their mouths. Maybe the ease with which they can grab onto food explains why African elephants get so much bigger than Asian elephants.

You can only be speaking in relativities when kg 13, lbs. There are other differences: African elephants have looser, more wrinkled skin; Asian elephants have harder trunks and bigger bellies; African elephants sometimes have fewer toenails on both their front and hind legs though you may not want to get close enough on your safari to count the toenails.