African Elephant
The African Bush Elephant, Loxodonta has adapted to suit its harsh environment. They can be found in most of Zimbabwe and Botswana. The rainfall in Botswana mainly occurs in December, January and February which is the wet season. There is 600mm of rain in the north-east of Botswana and 200mm in the drier south-west. (Siyabona Africa, 2014, stated)
Adaptations:
Limbs
Skeleton
An elephant has a large skull to use as a weapon when competing with other elephants over territory or for the female elephants to protect their young from intruder elephants.
Skin and thermoregulation:
Elephant are thicked skin on some areas of the body, this is known as pachyderms. Their skin is up to 1 inch thick in most areas but on some parts of the body such as the legs, the end of the trunk and back the skin is only between 2.5cm to 3 cm thick. The skin is very thin behind the ears, surrounding the eyes, abdomen, chest and shoulders. They have sparse hair which helps to cool the elephant’s temperature. The African bush elephant has deep and fine wrinkles where water is stored to moisten the skin, this is essential where they live in dry conditions. The water in the wrinkles will evaporate cooling the elephant’s body temperature. There are two layers to the skin which is the epidermis and dermis contained within these are the hair follicles and glands.
Located in elephant’s ears are fine blood vessels which are close to the skins surface. The warm blood from the elephant’s body is pumped from it and into the blood vessels. The blood will be cooled down by the external air and then it’s pumped back into the body, this is important for maintaining the elephant internal temperature of 37 degrees where the environmen...
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...r chamber. The veins which transports the blood to the atrium from the lower half of the body are paired. (Body Systems, 2014). The deoxygenated blood travels via the vena cava into the right atrium. The right atrium then contracts causing the blood to enter the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve. The right ventricle contracts causing the blood to pass through the pulmonary artery and then into the capillaries or blood vessels in the lungs. In the lungs the carbon dioxide is then discharged by the red blood cells. The oxygenated blood from the lungs will be transported into the left atrium, the blood then gets pushed into the left ventricle through the bicuspid valve. The left ventricle then pumps the oxygenated blood through the aorta and then around the body. This means the elephant has a double circulation system as it travels through the heart twice.
The excerpt from Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk is about the exact procedures and results of the same experiment that Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk was about. It contains the precise physical dimensions of every part of the test, and detailed explanations of each step that was followed to preform the test. Little to no opinions, quotes, or even conclusions that could be drawn were included, due to the strict, formal, and informational nature of the passage. The author's purpose was purely to explain all parts of the elephant study, and not at all to entertain or persuade.
Each author has the same purpose in writing about the elephant studies and there are many similarities and differences in which the elephants behaved.
The circulatory system and respiratory system share a highly important relationship that is crucial to maintaining the life of an organism. In order for bodily processes to be performed, energy to be created, and homeostasis to be maintained, the exchange of oxygen from the external environment to the intracellular environment is performed by the relationship of these two systems. Starting at the heart, deoxygenated/carbon-dioxide (CO2)-rich blood is moved in through the superior and inferior vena cava into the right atrium, then into the right ventricle when the heart is relaxed. As the heart contracts, the deoxygenated blood is pumped through the pulmonary arteries to capillaries in the lungs. As the organism breathes and intakes oxygenated air, oxygen is exchanged with CO2 in the blood at the capillaries. As the organism breathes out, it expels the CO2 into the external environment. For the blood in the capillaries, it is then moved into pulmonary veins and make
It is the highest rank that an elephant capturer can attain (Worall). This “power” has never been scientifically studied, but the people of both Burma and Thailand believe that this phenomenon exists. There are not many Khru Ba Yai left, it is said that there are a few still alive in both Burma and Thailand (Worall). These individuals became incredibly important when elephants went into “musth.” Several times a year, bull elephants go into a period called musth, a period of temporary madness. When in this state, bull elephant’s aggressiveness, testosterone levels, and mating drive spikes tremendously (Ogden). Studies have found that bull elephants are flooded with up to ten times as much testosterone as usual causing them to attack other elephants, mahouts, or anything else they may see as a threat (Ogden). In Elephant Run, Nick is given a first-hand look at how horrifying an encounter with a bull elephant in musth can be. “…The bull had uprooted every plant within reach and had plowed the ground around him into soft loam with his heavy tusks. As they approached, he started straining against his ropes in an effort to get to them” (Smith 59). However, something incredible transpired soon after Nick witnessed the roped up and infuriated bull elephant. “The monk stepped closer to the mad bull. He put his hands on one of his tusks and he leaned his old shaved head toward the bull’s ear, as if he were saying something to him” (Smith 61). The bull then relaxed after the monk named ‘Hilltop’ spoke to it. The Khru Ba Yai are a mysterious group with very few numbers in existence. It is a practice that seems utterly impossible but is ingrained in the Burmese culture as reality. The mahout tradition and practice is something so unique and utterly incredible, they risk life and limb to train and work with these magnificent animals. Interestingly enough, the mahouts of Burma actually helped in
The heart is two sided and has four chambers and is mostly made up of muscle. The heart’s muscles are different from other muscles in the body because the heart’s muscles cannot become tired, so the muscle is always expanding and contacting. The heart usually beats between 60 and 100 beats per minute. In the right side of the heart, there is low pressure and its job is to send red blood cells. Blood enters the right heart through a chamber which is called right atrium. The right atrium is another word for entry room. Since the atrium is located above the right ventricle, a mixture of gravity and a squeeze pushes tricuspid valve into the right ventricle. The tricuspid is made up of three things that allow blood to travel from top to bottom in the heart but closes to prevent the blood from backing up in the right atrium.
A police officer in the British Raj, the supposedly 'unbreakable'; ruling force, was afraid. With his gun aimed at a elephant's head, he was faced with the decision to pull the trigger. That officer was George Orwell, and he writes about his experience in his short story, 'Shooting an Elephant';. To save face, he shrugged it off as his desire to 'avoid looking the fool'; (George Orwell, 283). In truth, the atmosphere of fear and pressure overwhelmed him. His inner struggle over the guilt of being involved in the subjugation of a people added to this strain, and he made a decision he would later regret enough to write this story.
Since an elephant only has the one tuft of hair on their body it is considered a rare item, hence lucky. It can also be said that simply being able to obtain the hair and live to the tell the
The pattern of blood flow starts in the left atrium to right atrium, then into the left ventricle and right ventricle. During its course, blood flows through the mitral and tricuspid valves. Simultaneously, the right atrium is granted blood from the veins through the superior and inferior vena cava. The job of the superior vena cava is to transport de-oxygenated blood to the right atrium. When your heart beats, the first beat represents the AV valves closing to prevent the backflow of blood into the atrium.
The common name is the African Elephant, the scientific name is Loxodonta Africana, the phylum is Vertebrata, the class is Mammalia, the order is Proboscidea, and the family is Elephantidae. The Closest Relatives to the African Elephant are: the Asian Elephant, mammoths, primitive proboscidean (mastodons), sea cows, and hyraxes. Scientists believe that the African Elephant evolved from one of its closest relatives, the Sea Cow. The geographical location and range of the African elephant covers all of central and southern Africa. In Ethiopia there are isolated populations that exist around Lake Chad in Mali and Mauritania. Also in Kenya, Rhodesia, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Zaire, and in National parks located in South Africa, as well as several other countries. African Elephants, originally, were found in all of the Sub-Saharan African habitats except desert steppes. Elephants still occupy diverse habitats such as: temperate grassland, tropical savanna and grass lands, temperate forest and rainforest, tropical rainforest, tropical scrub forest, and tropical deciduous forest despite their drastic decline in numbers. However, their migratory patterns and habitat use have changed, due to the fact that they are restricted to protected areas. The elephant can exist in many types of environments but it prefers places that have many trees and bushes, which the elephant needs both for food and shade. They also like warm areas that have plenty of rainfall.
The heart serves as a powerful function in the human body through two main jobs. It pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout the body and “blood vessels called coronary arteries that carry oxygenated blood straight into the heart muscle” (Katzenstein and Pinã, 2). There are four chambers and valves inside the heart that “help regulate the flow of blood as it travels through the heart’s chambers and out to the lungs and body” (Katzenstein Pinã, 2). Within the heart there is the upper chamber known as the atrium (atria) and the lower chamber known as the ventricles. “The atrium receive blood from the lu...
Most reptiles have ventricles that are mostly separated, but still allow right to left shunting of the blood. Crocodiles have ventricles that are completely separated, but can still shunt blood between the pulmonary and systemic circuits (Axellson, Franklin). This shunting can be completed using the foramen of Panizza, which allows and regulates blood flow from either the left or right ventricle into the left or right aorta. Blood flows from the left ventricle to the right aorta, dorsal aorta, right subclavian artery and the common carotid artery. The right ventricle moves blood into the pulmonary trunk which then separates blood into the left and right pulmonary arteries (Axellson, Franklin). During diving, crocodiles develop a slight bradycardia and develop a right to left shunt once right ventricular pressure rises to a certain threshold. Resting rates of oxygen consumption are maintained and muscular lactate levels do not increase (Grigg). This ability to dive for extended periods of time is made possible by right to left shunting by way of the foramen of Panizza, in addition to the ability to maintain muscular lactate levels. Crocodilian hearts have the ability to keep oxygenated and deoxygenated blood within the heart. Blood pressures are also kept higher in the systemic circuit than the pulmonary circuit (Grigg). These heart adaptations are not seen in other reptiles, but rather in mammalian and avian
In ancient India elephants have always been seen as sacred symbols of protection (Dalrymple 87). The first known taming of the elephant is documented in the Indus River Valley region around 3500 BC (Gröning, Saller 108), and also contained one of the oldest depictions of the tamed animal from around the 3rd millennium BC (Gröning, Saller 110). This early portrayal of the elephant was a small steatite seal used for trade or in ritual, and most likely identifies individuals who own the traded goods (Dehejia 29-31). One the seal can be seen an
The common hippo has the majority of the body in the middle section of the body. That is where they have the thickest area of the skin. Even the thickest skin can crack in the sun for a hippopotamus; they produce red skin moisture in its skin glands. That gives it a mistaken belief for that it sweats blood. Since the majority of the skin is at the middle they can weigh 1-5 tons. (1-4.5 metric tons)
The Asian elephants live in forest near water sources and grassland and sometimes are found along rivers in dry months. They inhabit in various tropical forests from moist, evergreen lowland forests to dry semi-deciduous teak forests to cooler mountains. They are native throughout Asia and inhabit India, Sri Lanka, Mayanmar (Burma), Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh, and southern
Elephants are gentle giants that primarily live in Africa. They have a long line of how they became what they are today. The elephants may be very large animals but they are huge prey for big game hunters. There is a lot to tell from where they begin to where they are now.