elephants are so similar to human feet, it's amazing!
According to zoologists, elephants actually walk on their toes. their heels are naturally formed . The elephant has strong muscles and soft heel , which can act as a shock absorber, bears the huge weight of animals . The elephant's foot circumference is 1.5 meters long.
Please look at the photo, you can see the unique "fat pad" that spreads out when the elephant stepped on it.
So it increases its foot surface area, which is important given its huge size. Elephants don't run like horses, but walk gently, keeping their feet close to the ground. But they have the ability to go a long way.
The Elephant Family Sleeping
The Elephants really cherish their time! After all, they slept very little - only have two hours a day . This is the shortest time between mammals.
For example, whale sleeps the same time as humans - 8 to 9 hours per person.
Except for elephants, horses do not sleep for 2.5 hours a day, and giraffes do not sleep for 4.5 hours a day.
Predators sleep longer than herbivores. A tiger sleeps for an average of 18 hours, and a lion is even longer. The dog sleeps for up to 14 hours a day.
Why do herbivores sleep less than carnivores? because they need to stay awake more to escape these very predators. And in the process of evolution, they have evolved to this level. On the other hand, the predator needs to recover his strength before attacking his prey again.
Ancient elephants
There were many elephants before. During the evolution process, only three species survived to this day. In the figure of
, there is a Plate Gilled Dragon.
An interesting ancient relative of the elephant. It lives in Asia and Europe, although it is as big as the modern African elephant .
It has four fangs and a very strange "trunk". It uses the lower fangs to scrape off the bark.
Due to climate changes, the phalanx has become extinct. It became drier and they didn't have time to adapt.
90 liters of water per day
In Kaziranga National Park, an elephant and a baby elephant struggled to cross a water hyacinth field.
This photo exudes the happiness of an elephant through the screen!
When the cubs of Indian elephant were born, they were covered with hair like mammoth ! But over time, this wool will fall off and be washed away because it does not need to.
Elephants are never far from the body of water. Because an adult elephant needs up to 90 liters of water every day! They drink continuously and extensively.
Indian elephants are smaller than those on African grasslands. They can grow to 3.5 meters long and weigh up to 5.4 tons! African grassland elephants are larger and weigh up to 7 tons.
The skin thickness of Indian elephants is 2.5 cm. But it is much thinner on the inside of the ear. And this is where insects tend to stung them.
Elephants in the two world wars
In ancient times, fighting elephants were actively used in wars. But with the invention of gunpowder , their effectiveness was reduced to zero.
During the first and World War II , elephants in circuses and zoos were used to farm instead of horses.
On the other hand, the front line needs horses, so the horses are taken to meet the needs of the army. For example, in World War I , the UK "recruited" about one million horses to join the army.
Therefore, elephants are often hired and even bought out for agriculture.
However, many elephants did not escape the fate of the army. For example, Liz, an elephant from the British circus, once fetched scrap metal for the army. During World War I, elephants were often used to transport military supplies.
Elephant can go to places where vehicles cannot go when fight .
In World War II, they were used roughly the same way. But not in Europe, but on beaches in the Pacific Ocean, where military vehicles are not convenient. Or used to drag loads in southern countries.
For example, this photo shows an elephant dragging an American F-4U corsair and India in 1945.
On the other hand, the Germans used elephants to clear the consequences of air strikes at the end of World War II.
