Elephant Cognition

     Elephants are considered some of the smartest animals on the planet.  We have seen that they are able to learn socially, showcase emotions, and even teach their offspring thanks to their complex brains.  The human brain serves as a benchmark of intelligence and weighs around 3 lbs.  Elephants have one of the largest brains that weighs in at 11 lbs putting them in 2nd place only to sperm whales.

Image of Human, Pilot Whale, and Elephant brain size comparison. 

     The hippocampus is a brain area associated with emotion.  Elephants possess a much larger hippocampus by proportion that is linked to their closeness between herd members.  Their caring capacity has been noted in many observational and control settings.  Elephants are only separated by death and capture and have distinct rituals when mourning the loss of a family member.  Elephants are one of the only species that buries their dead by digging a hole and moving the body into the pit.  Researchers have noticed in some instances when a matriarch mother dies young calves make sounds that mimic crying.

     Elephants large capacity for intellect and emotion leads to a philosophical debate on whether it is ok to hunt them.  With many conservation efforts and protection agencies, elephant poaching has been decreasing over the past years but it is still up to us to ensure the survival of such an important species.


Sources: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_cognition

Anti-Predatory Behavior

Elephants are a non-predatory species. They acquire their nutrition from eating vegetation (up to 375 pounds a day). However, being the largest land animal they are often under predatory attack. Carnivores (meat-eaters) such as lions, hyenas, and crocodiles prey upon young, sick, orphaned, or injured elephants. 

However, humans are the greatest predatory threat to elephants due to poaching for ivory. 

Elephants can defend against predators by using their immense body mass, large strong tusks, and overall brute force. When threatened they often "charge" their attacker usually ramming and stomping upon contact. Research shows the oldest matriarchs and those with most experience often take the role in leading the protection against predators attacking the younger smaller elephants. 

Common responses to a threat include an alert posture with the head raised, ears spread, tail raised, and trunk raised or turned to catch scent. Older bulls and matriarchs form a defense ring around the calves. Elephants will often perform a display of aggression in attempts to intimidate or scare of predators to avoid fighting. However if the predator does not back down, the elephant will proceed to perform a defensive attack.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2011/03/10/rspb.2011.0168.full

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/elephants/longevity.htm

http://www.nature-wildlife.com/eletxt.htm

Elephants and Culture

As we’ve hopefully convinced you of by now, elephants are fascinating and majestic animals. They have many interesting characteristics, are intelligent and endearing, and can even be considered personable. They are massive in size, but also seemingly gentle in nature. Because of this, elephants are very prominent in pop culture, politics, and even religion. Here are only a few of the places elephants are found:

in Hinduism: 

The Hindu god, Ganesha, has the head of an elephant and the body of a boy. 

Elephants in the Lord of the Rings.

The elephant, Horton, plays the main role in a couple of Dr. Seuss books.

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Who can forget the lovable, Dumbo??

Tantor is featured in Tarzan .

Hathi in the Jungle Book 

The Republican Party symbol 

And last but not least... 

Water for Elephants, which features an intelligent and endearing elephant, Rosie.

Obviously, elephants are extremely prevalent in the world of pop-culture, politics and religion. Although there are sure to be many more examples, we thought these few would just help to exemplify their many roles in culture.