elephant: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Oct. 24, 2026

News •

Powerful image of a grieving elephant wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year • Oct. 15, 2026, 4:11 PM ET (Popular Science)

Scientists Unlock 700,000-Year-Old Secrets Hidden Inside a Giant Elephant Tooth • Oct. 14, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (SciTechDaily)

Facts

Also Known As	Elephantidae

Photos and Videos

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.

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

African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) standing on dry ground with its trunk raised, against a backdrop of green vegetation and distant hills.

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.

African savanna elephant feeding

African elephant

African savanna elephant and young

A herd of African elephants stands at the edge of the Chobe River in Botswana, drinking water with a backdrop of dry hills and scattered green trees.

From hunter to protector in Thailand's Khao Sok National Park

Observe a herd of African savanna elephants forage for food, self-groom, and enjoy a watering hole

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Topics

Why Are Elephants’ Ears So Big?mammoth What’s the Difference Between Asian and African Elephants?What is a female elephant called?What are elephant trunks used for?How much does an elephant weigh?Do elephants have good memory?How long do elephants live?imperial mammoth Asian elephant

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military technology: The elephant

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Iain Douglas-Hamilton

English zoologist

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