Asian elephant: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Oct. 22, 2026

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Facts

Also Known As	Elephas maximus • Asiatic elephant

Photos

A herd of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), including adults and calves, stands and plays in a shallow river with palm trees and greenery in the background.

Close-up of an Asian elephant mother touching trunks with her baby, showing their faces and textured skin.

Young Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)

Three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) stand close together in lush green grass at Minneriya National Park, Sri Lanka.

Mysore, Karnataka, India: elephant in Kabani River

Four Asian elephants stand in a shallow river surrounded by rocks, with palm trees and green hills in the background in Sri Lanka.

Side view illustration of an Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) with gray skin, large ears, and long curved tusks, shown next to a scale bar indicating 1 meter and 3 feet for size reference.

A timeline diagram shows the evolutionary history of modern elephants, depicting Gomphotherium as an ancient ancestor branching into the woolly mammoth, American mastodon, Asian elephant, African savanna elephant, and African forest elephant, with illustrations of each species and labeled time periods from the Eocene to the present.

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Topics

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Key People

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Raman Sukumar

Indian ecologist