Asian elephant

[ ey-zhuhn el-uh-fuhnt, ey-shuhn ]

noun

1. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Asian elephant¹

First recorded in 1925–30