BACK TO Asian elephant
African elephant vs. Asian elephant
[ af-ri-kuhn el-uh-fuhnt ]
noun
- an elephant of the genus Loxodonta, with two extant species, the larger African bush elephant and the African forest elephant, both found in sub-Saharan Africa and previously considered subspecies rather than genetically distinct: Compared to an Asian elephant, an African elephant is larger and has enormous ears, a rounder head, a trunk ending in two fingers rather than one, and conspicuous tusks occurring in both sexes.
[ ey-zhuhn el-uh-fuhnt, ey-shuhn ]
noun
- an elephant (Elephas maximus) of Southeast Asia, the only extant species of its genus, with the Borneo elephant, Indian elephant, Sri Lankan elephant, and Sumatran elephant as subspecies, all of which are endangered, and whose cognitive function is noteworthy as, among all land animals, it has the greatest volume of cerebral cortex: compared to an African elephant, an Asian elephant is smaller and has much smaller ears, an indented rather than domed head, a trunk ending in one finger rather than two, and conspicuous tusks occurring only in the males.