Asian Elephant and African Elephant
African and Asian elephants both belong to the order Proboscidea and family elephantidae. Although they belong to same order and family, they are different from each other in terms of their body shape, size, behaviour etc. Let us see how an African elephant differs from an Asian elephant.
Asian Elephant:
Asian elephants belong to the order Proboscidea and family elephantidae in the animal kingdom. Its scientific name is Elephas maximus. They can be easily identified by their smaller, rounded ears and twin-domed head with an indent in the middle. They also have distinctive long and tapered lower lips.
Asian elephants are smaller than the African species. The male Asian elephants grow up to 3.5m and weigh from 3000 to 6,000 kg. Only the male Asian elephants have tusks and they are comparatively smaller in size than the African elephant’s tusks.
Asian elephants are extremely sociable, so tend to form groups of six to seven related females led by the oldest female called matriarch. They are herbivorous prefer to feed on grasses instead of leaves.
African Elephant:
African elephants belong to the order Proboscidea and family elephantidae in the animal kingdom. Its scientific name is Loxodonta. They are larger than the Asian elephants, with male elephants growing up to 4m tall and weigh from 4,000 to 7500 kg. They have shorter lower lips and more rounded heads, i.e. the top of the head is a single dome.
African elephants are also known for their bigger ears that can reach up and over the neck. Their skin is more wrinkled and they generally have more ribs than the Asian elephants. Their trunk is heavily ringed but is not as hard as the Asian elephant’s trunk. They are herbivorous and prefer to feed on leaves instead of grasses.
Based on the above information, some of the key differences between Asian and African elephants are as follows:
| Asian Elephants | African Elephants |
|---|---|
| Its scientific name is Elephas maximus. | Its scientific name is Loxodonta. |
| They are smaller than the African species. | They are larger than their Asian counterparts. |
| An adult Asian element weighs from 3,000 to 6,000 kg. | An adult African elephant weighs from 4,000 to 7,500 kg. |
| They have a twin-domed head with an indent in the middle. | Their head is a single dome, i.e. they have more rounded heads. |
| Their lower lip is long and tapered. | Their lower lip is short and round. |
| They have smaller ears that resemble the shape of India. | Their ears are much bigger and resemble the map of Africa. |
| Their skin is less wrinkled. | Their skin is more wrinkled. |
| They generally have fewer ribs than African species. | They generally have more ribs than Asian species. |
| Their trunk is not heavily ringed but It is hard. | Their trunk is heavily ringed but not as hard as the Asian elephant’s trunk. |
| Their trunk has only one lobe or finger at its end. | Their trunk has two lobes or fingers at its end: one upper and one lower to pick up or grasp objects. |
| Only some male Asian elephants have tusks. | Both male and female have tusks. |
| A major portion of their diet comprises grass. | A major portion of their diet comprises leaves. |
| They have 5 toes on their front legs and 4 toes on the hind legs. | They have 4 to 5 toes on their front legs and 3 toes on their hind legs. |