Elephants Life Cycle

Jennifer Shin 2nd grade

2nd grade standard

Plants and animals have predictable life cycles.

Students know that organisms reproduce offspring of their own kind and that the offspring resemble their one another. Students know the sequential stages of life cycles are different for different animals, such as butterflies, and mice. Students know many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents. Some characteristics are influenced by the environment.

Baby Elephants

New born elephants are born with an incredible mass of 77-113 kg. They only weigh only 4% of an adult females weight and only 2% of an adult males. New -borns may consume 11.4 liters of milk a day Young calves commence weaning from the first year of life until the tenth year of life. The brain of a new born elephant is 30-40% of the size of an adult. Mothers allocate care and interact differently depending on the babys sex.

Family Structure

An elephant family is ruled by a matriarch (older female) and generally consits of her female offspring and their young. The oldest and most experienced is chosen from the herd. In Africa, a basic family unit consists of six to twelve animals, but families of twelve to twenty elephants are quite common. An elephant family will split depending on the size of the family, the among of available food, and how well they get along. When the matriarch dies, one of the oldest offspring takes her place. Mating patterns are unique since elephants do not confined mating to a specific time of year. A basic African family unit contains 6-12 members. Males as they grow older gradually become more independent from the family group.

Anatomy of an Elephant

Quick Stats on Elephants

Elephants typically reach puberty at thirteen or fourteen years of age They have offspring up until they are around fifty years old They may live seventy years or possibly more A cow produces a single calf and in very rare cases twins The interval between births is between two and a half to four years

An elephants trunk, a union of the nose and upper lip, is a highly sensitive organ with over 100,000 muscle units.

Looking into the World of Elephants~*

Stages of the elephants life

Interesting Facts

Elephant trunks can get very heavy. It is not uncommon to see elephants resting them over a tusk!

Elephants cry, play, have incredible memories, and laugh!

Elephants are sensitive fellow animals where if a baby complains, the entire family will rumble and go over to touch and caress it. Elephants have greeting ceremonies when a friend that has been away for some time returns to the group. Elephants grieve at a loss of a stillborn baby, a family member, and in many cases other elephants. Elephants don't drink with their trunks, but use them as "tools" to drink with. This is accomplished by filling the trunk with water and then using it as a hose to pour it into the elephant's mouth. Interestingly, the Asian elephant is more closely related to the extinct mammoth than to the African elephant (see evolution).

Visual Representation of the Life Cycle

What is wrong with the picture?

DID YOU KNOW?!

Elephant in LATIN (as ele and phant) means HUGE ARCH. Both has Greek and Latin origins. This applies specifically to the elephants scientific genus name Elephas. In Greek Linguistics, elephos represent an antlered beast. In Latin, it is divided as ele meaning arch phant meaning huge.

**Today, there are only two final survivors, Elephas maximus (Asian elephant) &

Loxodonta Africana (African elephant). Much like their predecessors, these two are facing a sad future that is near to another man-propelled extinction.

REFERENCES

Elephant Information Repository. http://elephant.elehost.com/