Until recently, I was sure that the difference between an Indian and an African elephant is their rider. An Indian rides an Indian, and an African, respectively, rides an African. However, this is not the only difference between these animals. What is the difference between Indian elephant and African elephant?

The first difference is visible to the naked eye, this is their size. African animals are larger, their weight is about five tons, and the height at the withers can reach four meters. Asians are slightly smaller: weight up to four tons, and height - three meters.

The next difference is the ears. Asian, they Indian elephants, have small ears pointed to the bottom, their modest size allows you to see the powerful skull of the animal. Their relatives have African elephants ears much bigger size(up to 1.5 meters). They are round in shape and clearly dominate the head.

Pay attention to the tusks of these giants, if they are long (up to three meters) and strongly curved, then you have an African elephant in front of you. The tusks are strongly developed in both males and females. In Indian elephants, tusks are shorter (up to two meters) and almost straight; in females, they may be completely absent.

These giants can be distinguished by their color: African elephants are gray-brown, and Indian skin can be from gray to dark brown.

The body of African animals is covered with multiple wrinkles, and on Indian animals, instead of folds, you can see a small vegetation.

The legs of the African elephant are long, this is due to the peculiarities of its diet, the animal eats branches and leaves of trees. The Indian ones are more squat, they eat not only branches, but also grass. His legs are thicker and shorter, so he looks more massive than his cousin.

There are slight differences in posture, the Indian elephant has a convex back, while the African one has a slightly concave back.

And finally, the trunk. The African representative has two finger-like processes on the trunk, while the Asian one has only one.

Sexual maturity of Indian elephants occurs by 15-20 years of age, African elephants reach puberty later, at 25 years.

Even on the trail, these animals can be distinguished: the African elephant has 5 hooves on the front legs, and 3 on the hind legs. The Indian elephant has 5 hooves on the front legs, and 4 on the hind legs. Accordingly, their tracks will be different.

There are also differences between these animals internal structure: the Indian has 19 pairs of ribs and 33 tail vertebrae, the African has 21 pairs of ribs and 26 vertebrae in the tail. There are also differences in the structure of the teeth.

And yet, the main difference is not so much their appearance as the content. Asian elephants are descendants of mammoths, while African elephants are extinct mastodons.

If we talk about character, then the Asian elephant can be called more accommodating. He quickly gets used to the person, easily gives in to training. People use the friendliness of these animals for their own purposes: they work in their homeland, and perform in the circus outside of it. In Asian countries, elephants are considered a symbol of wisdom, they stand out with the mind, have a good memory. African elephants are very aggressive and difficult to train.

Even in the recent past, in pursuit of tusks, people ruthlessly shot these majestic animals, as a result of such barbarism, their population was reduced tenfold. Today, elephants are listed in the Red Book, hunting for them is prohibited throughout the world.

What is the difference between an Indian elephant and an African one?

  1. indian Elephant is more intelligent and understands HUMOR.
  2. What is the difference between an Indian elephant and an African one? One is called Raja and the other is Bobo.
  3. fangs!! African has fangs
  4. Elephants! Which interesting topic. You can say my favorite. I'm big on elephants!

    Start with a description of the building
    The Indian elephant has a body length of 5.5-6.4 m, a height at the shoulders of 2.5-3 m, a tail length of 1.2-1.5 m. Weight is about 5 tons.
    And the African elephant will be larger: the body length reaches 6-7.5 m, the height at the shoulders is up to 4 m, the tail length is 1-1.3 m. The average weight of the female is 3 tons, the male is 5 tons (up to 7.5 tons).
    Next tusks. The Indian elephant has only males; they reach 1.5 m and weigh 20-25 kg. Kirill Leshchenko is right, among Indian elephants there are quite often males without tusks, which in India are called makhna.
    African elephants have tusks in both males and females. The tusks are larger in males and much smaller in females - up to 18 kg. The largest of the known tusks reached a length of 3.5 m and a mass of 107 kg.
    Ears
    The African elephant has large ears: sometimes they reach 1.5 m from the base to the top, while the Indian one has smaller ears, somewhat elongated downward and strongly pointed.
    proboscis
    The Indian elephant has one dorsal process at the end of its trunk. And the African elephant at the end of the trunk has dorsal and ventral processes.
    limbs
    The Indian elephant has 5 hooves on the forelimbs, 4 on the hind limbs, while the African elephant has 5 hooves on the forelimbs, less often 4, and 3 on the hind limbs.
    Color
    The African Elephant is brownish grey.
    Indian elephant - from dark gray to brown.
    Other anatomical features
    Indian elephant - transverse dentine plates in each cheek tooth from 6 to 27. Ribs 19 pairs. There are 33 caudal vertebrae. The heart often has a double apex.
    African elephant - there are 5 to 14 fewer transverse dentin plates in each cheek tooth than in the Indian elephant. Ribs 21 pairs - more than the Indian elephant. There are fewer tail vertebrae - a maximum of 26.

    Distribution area and fs rest:
    Indian elephant
    Currently live in Northeast, East and South India, East Pakistan, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Nepal, Malacca, Sumatra and Ceylon.
    Inhabits various landscapes from dense forests to tall grass plains. They keep in herds of 15-30 individuals; usually led by an old female. Food - mainly grass, leaves, young shoots, fruits. There is no seasonality in reproduction. Pregnancy 20-22 months. The female brings 1-2 cubs. The newborn has a height at the shoulders of about 1 m, weight 90 kg. Sexual maturity occurs at 9-12 years. During the life of the female gives an average of 4 litters.
    The Indian elephant is used as a pet for various heavy work, transportation and hunting.
    The Indian elephant is included in the Red Book as a species that may soon be in danger of extinction.

    African elephant
    Distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. However, the range that was almost continuous in the past is now broken. The African elephant is not found. for the most part South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Ethiopia; completely disappeared from Northern Somalia!
    They inhabit a variety of landscapes (with the exception of semi-deserts and deserts) from sea level to 3660 m above its level (as an exception, even up to 4570 m). It lives in herds, which in the past reached 400 heads. It feeds mainly on branches, shoots, bark and roots of trees and shrubs. Reproduction is not associated with a specific season. Pregnancy lasts approximately 22 months. The female usually brings one cub every 4 years. The mass of the newborn is about 100 kg, the height at the shoulders is about 1 m. Sexual maturity occurs at 12-20 years. Life expectancy is 60-70 years.
    African elephants are well domesticated. African elephants participated in Hannibal's campaign against Rome. At the beginning of the XX century. African elephants were successfully domesticated in Zaire. Practical application domestic African elephants did not receive.

  5. one from India, the other from Africa
  6. Indian can be tamed and used on the farm. For example, to carry firewood with a trunk.
  7. ear shape
  8. Place of residence.)))))))))))))))
  9. Dear, KatyuShk@, let's proceed in order.
    For clarity, I added pictures, I hope all this will fit in 2500 characters.
    Number one goes, really size. Males of the modern African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) reach a height in the back of 3.5 m, females up to 3 m. Weight up to 7.5 tons. The modern Indian (more precisely, Asian) elephant (Elephas asiaticus) is smaller than the African one. The height of the male is 3.0-3.2 m, the female is 2.6-2.9 m. Weight is up to 5 tons.
    2. Body proportions. The difference in body proportions among elephants can be explained if we consider them depending on the way of life and the nature of their diet. The long legs and tall stature of the African elephant can be explained as the result of an adaptation to feeding on twigs and leaves, the Indian elephant eats both herbaceous vegetation and twigs and leaves, and the nature of the diet undoubtedly affected the proportions of its body.
    (In the first picture, an Indian elephant, in the second African, respectively)

    3. Trunk. So, in an African elephant that feeds on twig-deciduous food, the end of the trunk has two finger-like processes, in the Indian elephant there is only one finger-like process at the end of the trunk.

    4. Ears. The African elephant has much more. And in the Indian they are lowered down and, as it were, pointed (see figure).
    5. The structure of the spine, namely the spinous processes. In short, their absolute sizes are almost the same, however, the degree of increase in the length of the processes, starting from the neck, and then its decrease towards the caudal region, is more pronounced in the African counterpart.
    6. The presence of light hair in Indian elephants, a slight difference in the structure of the molars (also due to the type of food) and a few other minor nuances.
    More about elephants here and here.

    I will add a little to Mr. Leshchenko. The fact that Indian elephants have almost no tusks is somewhat exaggerated. Many individuals have tusks, but they are hidden under the skin. Although, it is worth recognizing that now there are no elephants with huge tusks, since all individuals with such tusks were knocked out by hunters centuries ago, and the length of the tusks is a genetically inherited trait.
    .

    Yes, well done Rich!
    I will add about 4 subspecies. What is commonly called the Indian elephant is actually a subspecies of the Asian. And there are 4 of them: Indian elephant (E. m. indicus), Sri Lankan elephant (E. m. maximus), Sumatran elephant (E. m. sumatrensis), Borneo elephant (E. m. borneensis). However, this is all in the link to Wikipedia, which I gave above.

    Added: 2 Kirill is all politics! They just can't accept that Sri Lanka is not an Indian island 🙂

  10. The ears of the Indian elephant are much smaller, they are somewhat elongated downward and strongly pointed. The Indian elephant differs from the African also in the details of the structure of the trunk, molars, the number of vertebrae, and some others. anatomical features.
    There are from 6 to 27 transverse dentine plates in each cheek tooth (more than in the African elephant).
    The Indian elephant to a much greater extent than the African, the forest dweller
    Indian elephants have little hair.
  11. The African elephant is larger and taller than the Indian one and the ears are really bigger, by the way, the shape of the ears of the African resembles the African continent, you can see it on the map. The Indian ears are slightly pinkish-whitish at the edges and, as it were, in hemp.
  12. Ears, in Indian they are smaller, because. much hotter in africa
  13. The African elephant has tusks in both males and females.
    In the Indian elephant, females do not have tusks.
    Moreover, in Lately in the population of Indian elephants, especially in Sri Lanka, the percentage of tuskless males is increasing.
    http://answer.mail.ru/question/4757999/

    It was from memory, and now from a search engine:
    AFRICAN ELEPHANT (Loxodonta africana) is the largest of modern land animals. It swims perfectly, and only the forehead and the tip of the trunk remain above the surface of the water, overcomes a steep climb without visible effort, feels free among the rocks.
    INDIAN ELEPHANT (Elephas maximus) is smaller than African. Unlike the African elephant, the Indian big tusks are available only in males, and they are 23 times smaller than in African, rarely reaching a length of 1.5 m and a weight of 20 25 kg. Among Indian elephants, there are quite often males without tusks, which in India are called "makhna" (makhna). Especially often such males are found in the north-eastern part of the country. The ears of the Indian elephant are much smaller, they are somewhat elongated downward and strongly pointed. Newborn elephants are covered with brownish hair, which is wiped and thins with age, but even adult Indian elephants are more covered with coarse hair than African ones.

    It can be seen that the mother does not have tusks.

    Added: To remark of Mr. "Lord Phenomen". I did not write at all that "Indian elephants have almost no tusks." I wrote "Indian elephants do not have tusks." I insist on that.
    Added: To the next remark of Mr. "Lord Phenomen". The question worded "Indian Elephant". And by the way, many taxonomists do not single out the "Sri Lankan elephant" in separate view, but is considered a subspecies of the Indian.

    Added: Rich is super!

    Added: It turns out there is another interesting version:
    http://answer.mail.ru/question/7547928/
    But I would not like to comment on it.
    As they say, who hurts what. 🙂

  14. In appearance, these animals differ significantly from each other in a number of ways. The Indian elephant is more massive than the African, this is because the legs of the Indian elephant are thick and relatively short than those of the African elephant, despite the fact that the African elephant is larger in size than the Indian one. Often depigmented pinkish areas are visible on the body of the Indian elephant, which give them spotted species. Newborn elephants are covered with brownish hair, which is wiped and thins with age, but even adult Indian elephants are more covered with coarse hair than African ones.

    The most characteristic feature that distinguishes the Indian elephant from the African is the relatively smaller size of the auricles. The ears of the Indian elephant never rise above the level of the neck. They are of medium size, irregularly rectangular in shape, with a slightly elongated tip and an upper edge turned inward. Unlike the African elephant, the trunk ends in a single dorsal finger-like process. This is clearly seen in the photo provided by Lord Phenomen.

    The differences between the Indian elephant and the African are a lighter color, medium-sized tusks that are available only in males, small ears, a convex humpbacked back without a saddle, two bulges on the forehead and a single finger-like process at the end of the trunk.

    Differences in the internal structure also include 19 pairs of ribs instead of 21, as in the African elephant, and structural features of the molars of the transverse dentin plates in each tooth in the Indian elephant from 6 to 27, which is more than in the African elephant. There are 33 tail vertebrae instead of 26.

    The Indian elephant, to a greater extent than the African, is a forest dweller and differs in some other food. But these are most likely differences in the fauna and flora of the continents.
    If you are ever lucky enough to see the footprints of an elephant in Europe or Russia, then here, too, by the trail you can find out which continent this representative is from. The Indian elephant has 5 hooves on the front legs, 4 on the hind legs. When the African representative has 5 hooves on the hind legs, the number of hooves on the front legs varies from 4 to 5.

    Curiously, male African elephants puberty occurs at a later age (from the age of 25), when in Indian elephants this period begins by the age of 15-20. In females of both species, this period occurs more early age than in males.

    For Lord Phenomen and Cyril.
    Four modern subspecies of the Asian elephant are known, two of which are worth mentioning.
    Indian elephant. (E. m. indicus) lives in a highly fragmented range in South India, the foothills of the Himalayas and Northeast India; also found in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and the Malay Peninsula. Most males of this subspecies have tusks; females rarely develop tusks.
    the Sri Lankan elephant (E. m. maximus) is found only in Sri Lanka. It has the largest head in relation to body size and usually has a discolored patch of skin on the forehead and at the base of the trunk. As a rule, even males do not have tusks.

  15. The hoses are different.)
  16. African elephants are more aggressive, social, and their skins are lighter. Habitats differ - jungle - savannas.
  17. ears and body weight

It's hard to believe, but 2 representatives of the elephant family - the African elephant and its fellow Indian elephant - have such clear differences that biologists even attributed these animals to various types. Many differences are observed even in their appearance - they are striking to everyone, even if you look only at the pictures of these elephants.

Size difference

Everyone knows that on our planet there is no land dweller larger than an elephant. There is also a lesser known fact - the African elephant exceeds the size of its Indian (Asian) relative, that is, it is the largest mammal on land.

African elephant height

Its height at shoulder level can reach as much as 4 meters! And the length of the body is from 6 to 7 meters, sometimes a little more. The body weight of this giant is up to 7000 kg. The Asian elephant is smaller - it grows up to 3 m in height, up to 6 meters in length, its weight rarely exceeds 5000 kg.


different shape and elephant ears are long. The African elephant is the owner of large, elongated rounded hearing organs. The Asian ears are smaller, more elongated to the ground, pointed.

Related materials:

Why are elephants afraid of mice?

Not only the male, but also the female African elephant has luxurious tusks (of course, the “girls” have smaller tusks). Females of Asian elephants are completely devoid of tusks, and sometimes males do not have them either (the inhabitants of India called these elephants “makhna”). The tusk of an elephant from Africa is very long (up to 3.5 m) and strongly curved. The tusk of the Asian elephant is shorter and almost straight..

body surface

Elephant skin from Africa is covered big amount wrinkles. The surface of the body of the Asian elephant is covered with small hairs. There are also differences in skin color - asian elephant darker(dark gray, brown), African - gray with a slight brown tint.

Body outline


Elephants are not similar to each other even in body outlines - an elephant from Africa has a straight back, sometimes slightly concave. The back of the Asian elephant is clearly convex. The limbs of the elephant from India are thicker and shorter, so it looks more overweight. The African elephant needs long legs - it eats only the foliage of trees, for which it stretches high. His counterpart from India also eats some food from the ground, and not just leaves and branches from a tree.

Related materials:

The strongest animals in the world

The difference between elephants in trunks


The trunks of these animals are also arranged differently - they have processes that resemble fingers in shape. Only on the trunk of an African elephant there are 2 of them, and in an Asian elephant there is only 1.

Although, it would seem, an elephant - after all, he is an elephant in Africa, right? And in India. And in the zoo of Kyiv, Moscow or Yalta. An elephant to itself - and an elephant. Trunk, tail, big ears. It trumpets, sprinkles with sand in the heat.

An no. Indian and African elephants are so different from each other that some scientists even insist on classifying them into different species. Why is it so, where did so many differences between these similar-looking animals come from?

First, if you put African and Indian elephants side by side, it will be very obvious that they are incredibly different in size: Africans are one and a half times larger than Indians. And with the total weight of an elephant about seven tons, you will agree that the difference is more than noticeable.

Now let's take a closer look at the ears. Yes, both of them are great, and elephants wave them. But! The ears of an African elephant are still bigger, whatever one may say! And the shape, the main thing is the shape: they are round in shape. But the Indian elephant will never grow its ears to the size of the ears of an African. And down they are sharp.

For the next comparison, you need to take an elephant and a female elephant of both types. If in Africans tusks grow in both individuals: female and male, then the Indian elephant (and not everyone!) Can boast of their presence, but the elephant, alas, does not. Indian elephants are “hairy”, but Africans are all folded, wrinkled, like sharpei. The elephants of Africa are grey, but with a brown tinge. And the elephants of India are still pure gray.

Now let's look at both elephants in profile. It is convenient to ride an African elephant: its ridge is either flat or even slightly bent. But the Indian elephant arches its back in an arc. And their legs different lengths. And it depends on their eating habits. In Africa, elephants reach for fresh greens and fruits on trees, which is why they need longer legs. But in India, you can pluck the grass under your feet, so you can get by with short limbs.

Have you ever looked into an elephant's trunk? If so, then they saw that it was like two fingers on its tip. Yes? Then you got acquainted with the African elephant. Indeed, in an Indian animal, the trunk ends with one “tentacle”.

Even the African and Indian elephants leave completely different traces on the ground, and their teeth are different, and even the number of ribs is not the same, and they are capable of producing offspring at different ages.

But the most amazing difference in elephants is their ... characters! Yes, elephants have character! It is easier to make friends with Indian elephants, they are more supportive of people. Indians are ready to worship a person, help and submit. But with the Africans, everything is not so simple: they are more militant and will not meet you halfway just like that, and they will not immediately agree to improve relations, alas.

They live, as you already understood, African and Indian elephants are also in different places and even on different continents. But there is also something in common between them. And this is not the most pleasant reason for finding similarities. The fact is that both African and Indian elephants are listed in the Red Book and are on the verge of extinction.

You can either write your own.

African and Indian elephants belong to the elephant family and are descended from an ancestor who lived several million years ago. Today they are not only different types, but also to different genera under the same . The genus of African elephants is presumably divided into savannah and forest elephants, it is also possible to single out East African elephants, but biologists have not yet unambiguously resolved this issue. The Indian genus has only one modern look called the Asian elephant, the rest of the representatives of this genus became extinct.

Distinguish by appearance elephants - inhabitants of Africa and India - quite simply, if you know a few characteristic features. First of all, this is the size - African elephants are taller, larger and heavier. They grow up to four to five meters in height, stretch up to 7.5 meters in length, and weigh about 7 tons. Their Indian counterparts rarely measure more than 3 meters and longer than 6.5, and weigh about 3 tons.

African elephants are wrinkled and their skin appears rougher. They are darker in color sometimes to brown, while their Indian brothers are grey, with smoother skin covered with small hairs.

It is very easy to distinguish elephants by their ears: Africans have them huge, more head reaching a length of one and a half meters. They have a rounded shape, stick up a little and are widely spaced on the sides. Indians cannot boast of such large ones: they are modest, a few tens of centimeters, angular and pointing downwards, with a pointed end.

Representatives of the African species walk with a straight back, in some elephants the backbone is even slightly concave. And for Asian look a characteristic bulging back, which makes them seem sad and drooping compared to their stately comrades from Africa.

Other differences between African and Indian elephants

Differences of different people are manifested not only in appearance, but also in behavior and lifestyle. For example, Africans eat mainly branches and leaves on: therefore they are taller and have more long legs. Indian animals are more likely to search for food, they do not necessarily have to be larger.

They also differ in character: Indian elephants are more friendly