ANATOMY
An asian elephant skin can be anywhere from paper thin to as thick as 1 inch. Although an elephant's skin can be fairly thick, they are still sensitive due to their nerve supply. Elephants are also sensitive to the sun and bugs. In order for them to protect themselves, they cover their body in dirt, sand, and mud. Their brains itself weigh about 9-13 pounds with a large capacity to learn and retain memory. Their trunk consists of the nose and upper lip fused with no bone structure. It is composed of muscles, nerves, fat, connective tissues, hair, skin, blood and lymph vessels. The base of the trunk and between the nostrils have cartilage. The trunk contains approximately 150,00 muscles and tendons that strengthen its movement and precision. The trunk is used to feed, snorkel, smell, dust, sort, touch, communicate, lift and many other tasks.
Asian elephants have their legs stacked in a vertical like position under its body. Their long bones allow them to have enough support for their heavy weights. Since they occasionally sleep while standing, their bone structure provides them the proper support. Unlike other mammals who have narrow bone cavities, asian elephants lack this characteristic. They have a dense perforated bone structure that makes their bones stronger and helps aid the pressure from their weight. Springer Nature found that a large amount of iron in the humerus, radius, fibula, ribs, and any other bone with a closed medullary cavity is associated with bone marrow for cell production. They state that each bone has a specific characteristic which can be crucial to hematopoiesis and strength of the bones to insure stability for the large body weight. It’s skeleton is built for strength and mobility. Their body structure is designed for their survival skills like standing on their hind legs to reach food and walking down steep hills. Elephant’s feet have thick pads on the bottom of their feet and they walk on their toes. The pads work as shock absorbers to protect their legs and toes from damaging. |