The elephant would be the largest animal on the planet if there were no whales. But among the fauna that lives on land, it is without a doubt the largest. Everyone knows that elephants have big ears. Another question - why do they need it? Why do elephants have big ears, and does this mean that the largest land animals have perfect hearing? This is what the article will be about.
Short description
The first thing that catches your eye when looking at an elephant is its trunk. The second, of course, are the huge ears that the animals seem to fan themselves with slowly.
To understand why an elephant has big ears, you need to have an idea about these creatures, at least in general terms. Giant size protected animals from predators, but it will take a lot of resources to feed such a huge mass. An adult individual consumes up to 200 kg of greenery and up to 200 liters of water per day. At the same time, the largest representative of the species can reach a weight of 7.5 tons and a height of up to 4 meters.
One notable feature of the elephant's body is the trunk,which carries a multifunctional load. This is the nose, and the mouth, and the hand, and a defensive tool. With the help of a trunk, an elephant can lift both a heavy log and the lightest match from the surface of the earth. Another notable organ is the huge ears, which weigh about 50 kg and are up to 1.8 meters long. So why do elephants have big ears? But more on that later. In the meantime, some more interesting facts.
It is also noteworthy that these animals can be left-handed and right-handed, which is noticeable by the wear of their tusks. For example, a left-handed elephant will have more wear on the left tusk.
The life expectancy of the described giants, on average, is about 80 years. The female bears the cub for 22 months and takes care of the baby elephant until about 15 years of age, along the way helping in the upbringing of nephews, sisters and brothers and other small relatives. Elephants live in small families of up to 10 individuals, consisting of grandmothers, mothers, sisters and even great-grandmothers.
The high intellectual abilities of these animals, which are among the ten smartest creatures on the planet, are also known. They are emotional, they have a great memory and they have a wide range of sounds with which they can communicate with each other.
Habitat
Elephants are common in Africa, India and Ceylon, as well as in some Asian regions. They are nomads who are able to travel hundreds of kilometers in search of food.
And this is no wonder, because to feed such a huge body you need a lot of grass, leaves, nuts andfruits. Once there were herds of elephants, the number of which reached 400 or more individuals.
African and Indian elephants
There are two types of elephants - African and Asian, better known as Indian. African about three times larger. Why does the African elephant have large ears that are much larger than those of its Indian relative? It has to do with body size. The height at the withers of an African male reaches 4 m and weighs more than five tons. The females are slightly smaller. Its tusks can grow up to 3.5 m and are used to dig up roots.
However, the differences between these types of elephants are not only in the size of the ears. The skin of Africans is wrinkled, as if wrinkled, while that of Indians is much smoother. In addition, at the end of the African elephant's trunk there are two peculiar fingers, while the Indian counterpart has only one, which is not so convenient when grabbing objects.
These animals take up to 16 hours a day to feed. The sounds made by elephants can be heard at a distance of 10 km. It would seem that with such gigantic ear sizes, they should have excellent hearing, and this is almost true, but the size of the hearing organ serves slightly different purposes.
Why do elephants have very big ears
Elephants are excellent swimmers. They are able to stay on the water for about 6 hours in a row without touching the bottom. These animals do not have sweat glands and they cool their bodies in two ways. One of them is a shower from the water collected in the trunk. Another is the answer to the question:"Why do elephants have big ears?"
Ears serve as air conditioners for elephants. Naturally, for a large body, huge air conditioners are also needed. Elephants wiggle their ears, but that's not to fan them.
Elephant's ears are full of large capillaries that expand when it's hot and contract when it's cold. In especially hot weather, with a leisurely movement of the ears, the air flowing around the dilated vessels cools the blood running through them. The huge size of the ears also helps to cool more blood flowing through the network of vessels located on the surface of the ear. The cooled blood then enters the body, preventing it from overheating. In addition, with the help of their ears and trunk, elephants successfully drive away annoying insects.
Every natural phenomenon has a functional meaning. Everything is harmonious in it, and everything is in its place. Be it the size of elephant ears or any other natural reality.
