Ethical conversation: why does an elephant need a trunk? Why does an elephant have a long trunk and such huge ears? So we figured it out

The elephant is one of the most large mammals animals living on land. Its weight can reach up to 5 tons, so it has short legs that serve as powerful support. Elephant tusks are actually just grown to enormous sizes. upper teeth, which play an important role in the life of the animal. But the most important organ of an elephant is its trunk. Some people think that the trunk serves only as a respiratory organ, but this is only one of its many functions.

What is a trunk?

The first thing a person notices when they see it, in addition to its size, is its trunk, which is an upper lip fused with the nose as a result of evolution. Thus, the elephants turned out to be quite flexible and long nose, consisting of 500 different muscles, and at the same time not having a single bone (except for the cartilage on the bridge of the nose).

The nostrils, like those of humans, are divided into two canals along their entire length. And at the tip of the trunk there are small but very strong muscles that serve the elephant as fingers. With their help, the elephant will be able to feel and pick up a small button or other small object.

First of all, the trunk serves as a nose, but with its help elephants breathe, smell, and can also:

• drink;
• get your own food;
• communicate with relatives;
• lift small objects;
• bathe;
• defend;
• express emotions.

From all this it follows that the trunk is a useful and unique tool. IN everyday life an adult elephant cannot do without a trunk, just as a person cannot do without arms. Reference. The baby elephant is not trained to use its trunk correctly and constantly steps on it when walking. Therefore, before fully learning to control the trunk, the baby elephant simply uses it to hold on to its parent's tail while moving.

Food and drink

One of the most important functions of the trunk is considered to be the extraction of food and water. With the help of this organ, the animal searches for and obtains these vital products.

Food

The elephant differs from other mammals in that it eats food primarily with its nose, with which it obtains it. The diet of this animal depends on the type of elephant. Since the elephant is a mammal, it eats mainly plants, vegetables and fruits.

Protection from enemies

In conditions wildlife In addition to its tusks, the elephant also uses its trunk for protection. Thanks to the flexibility of the organ, the animal can repel blows from any direction, and the number of muscles in the trunk gives it enormous strength. The weight of the organ makes it an excellent weapon: in an adult it reaches 140 kg, and a blow of such force can repel the attack of a dangerous predator.

Communication

Despite the fact that scientists have proven the ability of elephants to communicate using infrasound, the trunk plays an important role in the communication of these animals. Most often such communication is as follows:

• greeting - elephants greet each other using their trunk;
• help for offspring.

Elephants also use their trunks to communicate with their babies. Despite the fact that the little elephant calf still walks quite poorly, he still needs to move, and his mother helps him with this. Holding on with their trunks, the mother and calf move little by little, as a result of which the latter gradually learns to walk.

Adults can also use their trunk to punish offending offspring. In this case, of course, the elephants do not put all their strength into the blow, but lightly spank the children. As for communication between elephants, these animals love to touch each other with their trunks, stroke their “interlocutors” on the backs and show their attention in every possible way.

One day my daughter and I were walking around the zoo. When we approached the enclosure, my daughter asked me a question that at first glance seemed simple: “Mom, why does an elephant need a trunk?” I hastened to explain to her that these were his “hands”. My daughter was quite satisfied with my explanation, but I myself was not. I wondered what the full functionality of this simple organ, which belongs to the largest land animal in the world, is; simply put, why does an elephant need a trunk? Let's figure this out together!

Why does an elephant need a trunk?

I myself thought that it was like a hand, a nose and a lip at the same time. After reading all kinds of literature, I realized that I was close to the truth. Comrades, it turns out that an elephant’s trunk is quite multifunctional! You may not even know about some of its purposes!

Smell and lips

First of all, this is, of course, the sense of smell! The trunk is the elephant's nose. Turning it in different sides, the animal easily recognizes different odors, another animal, a person or danger. In addition to smell, the trunk is also used by the elephant as a lip. With its help, the animal can easily take out and put food into its mouth.

"Hands" and "breadwinner"

Perhaps the most important explanation for why an elephant needs a trunk is, of course, its second “hands”! Since this is such a “hand”, it allows the mammal to easily tear leaves or entire branches from the upper tiers of trees, as well as draw water from rivers and lakes. By the way, the latter is a rather interesting moment in the life of elephants. Many people are not so much interested in why an elephant needs a trunk, but why does it water itself from it? Friends, well, it’s simple - this is the most ordinary cooling shower, a necessary measure on rather hot days, and as you know, in the permanent habitats of elephants - India and Africa - summer continues all year round... But let's return to our “rams”. The trunk helps not only to pluck leaves, but also to drive away various insects that bite the ground giant. In addition, the elephant itches with the help of its trunk. By the way, all this explains why the elephant long trunk. Evolution never sleeps! A short proboscis would hardly cope with the above tasks.

Self-defense

One of important functions The trunk in the life activity of this animal is the ability to defend itself from enemies. A multifunctional organ is an enviable “weapon” against various enemies. I was interested to learn that a blow from an elephant's trunk is so powerful that it sometimes leads to the instant death of its offender! But in most cases, these are, of course, just injuries.

Means of communication

Elephants use their trunk to make sounds various sounds, helping these animals communicate with each other. In addition, no one passes without him mating games. It is with this organ that the elephant wins the affection of the female...

My trunk is my enemy!

When a person realized how much functionality was hidden in a single elephant organ, then, without hesitation for a long time, he began to subjugate the animal to his will. For example, the English colonialists for a very long time used the elephant and its trunk as labor. There weren't enough blacks for them! The fact is that with the help of its trunk, the elephant easily swings trees, carries heavy objects (for example, logs), paving the way where there is complete impassability.

So we figured it out!

So, dear friends, the trunk is a universal and vital organ of any elephant - both Indian and African! Now that I have a complete information picture, I can easily answer my daughter’s question!

You've probably often been to the zoo and watched films about animals, and there you probably saw a huge animal called an elephant. And perhaps you have often wondered: why does an elephant have such a long nose and huge ears? And what do you know about this giant anyway? Today we will share with you interesting story about elephants.

Why does an elephant need big ears and a long trunk?

And by the way, due to the fact that elephants’ ears are large, they hear much better than man. By the way, maybe you noticed that elephants (like many other animals) sleep standing up. Most of the time he looks for food (after all, such incredible dimensions need to be fed somehow), and the elephant only needs four hours a day to sleep.

Elephants mainly eat grass, bark, roots and leaves, as well as flowers and fruits. elephants tear with their trunk. Thanks to its strong muscles, the elephant's trunk is very flexible and mobile. The trunk is capable of picking up even very small objects from the ground - roots, fallen fruits, and so on. An elephant can also use its trunk to draw up to six liters of water at a time!

When it's hot, elephants sit in the shade, flapping their ears to cool their bodies. They love to take baths, pouring water over themselves (which they collect using their trunk-hose) and rolling around in dirt and dust. By taking such mud baths, elephants protect themselves from bites. sunburn and fluid loss.

Elephants also use their trunk to communicate. A long trumpet call calls the whole herd together. A short sharp sound is the sound of fear. Powerful blows to the ground with the trunk show irritation and anger.

Elephants are very important and now your knowledge about them has increased so much that you may well surprise your friends with them. But you can learn much more about the life of elephants if you ask your parents to read you a children’s encyclopedia about animals (this is if you don’t know how to read, but if you already know how to read and write, you can read about elephants and other animals yourself).

Elephants are one of the most amazing animals in nature. But, and unusualness and unique feature An elephant is made by its trunk. Interesting and curious: why does an elephant need a trunk? Let's look for the answer to this interesting question. Probably not only children asked this question; we can confidently say that not even all adults know why an elephant has a trunk. But after reading this article we will definitely find out: “what?”, “why?” and “why?”

This is not only an elongated nose, but also a “hand” with which the animal grabs objects, eats and smells. The entire life of an elephant is impossible without its long nose-trunk. With the help of its trunk, an elephant can perform the same tasks as a person with the help of his hand.

The elephant's trunk is an excellent organ of smell. These animals are very good at distinguishing odors. By turning it in different directions, the animal can easily recognize different odors, another animal, a person or danger.

The main task of the trunk- this is to grab food and put it in the mouth, an elephant can also drink water through it, like through a straw, it takes water into its trunk and pours it into its mouth. Also, with the help of its trunk, an elephant can give itself a shower in extreme heat, dousing itself with water, dust or even dirt.

The trunk also serves for protection for elephants. Elephants are peaceful and very calm animals. But if an elephant gets angry, it can hit a person or any animal very hard with its trunk. Such a blow could undoubtedly be fatal.

After bathing, elephants wrap themselves in sand (or mud) with the help of their trunk; they pick up sand (dirt) with their trunk like water and sprinkle it on themselves. The sand (dirt) dries and forms a crust, which protects the elephants from the bites of various insects.

(photo 2018-05-04_164636)

With the help of the trunk, animals communicate; elephants make various sounds. In addition, no mating games take place without it. It is with this organ that the elephant wins the affection of the female.

It is a flexible muscular extension upper lip and nose. African forest and savannah elephants have trunks that end in two finger-like projections; on the trunk asian elephant there is only one such process. The elephant's trunk performs many functions that are necessary to maintain vital important processes animal, protection from predators and communication in the herd.

The main functions of an elephant trunk and their brief characteristics are listed below:

Helps you eat and drink

All species of elephants use their trunks to grab leaves on tree branches and tear grass out of the soil, then move food into their mouths. Like food, the elephant squirts water into its mouth using its trunk.

Cools the body

During periods of extreme heat, elephants draw water from rivers into their trunks and pour it over their bodies. The trunk of an adult elephant is capable of sucking up to 40 liters of water in one minute and holding up to 9 liters at a time!

Protects from insects and sun

African elephants also use their trunks to take a dust shower, which helps repel insects and protects them from the sun's harmful rays (temperatures in their habitat often exceed 35ºC). To give yourself a dust shower, African elephant sucks dust into its trunk, then bends it over its head and releases the dust onto itself (Fortunately, this dust does not cause sneezing in animals).

Captures odors

In addition to being used for eating, drinking and dusting, the elephant's trunk is a unique structure that plays a fundamental role in the olfactory system of these animals. Elephants turn their trunks to different directions to better capture odors. Scientists believe that elephants can smell water from several kilometers away.

Allows you to breathe underwater

When they swim (which happens very rarely), elephants raise their trunks above the surface of the water, like a breathing tube. These animals are the only ones capable of crossing deep bodies of water in this way.

Feels vibrations

An elephant's trunk is extremely sensitive and it can sense the movement of herds of animals or thunder from a long distance.

Excellent maneuverability

It is a boneless muscular structure containing more than 100,000 muscles. This is a sensitive and quite dexterous part of the body, so elephants can collect and distinguish objects different sizes, and in some cases even fight off predators. An elephant's trunk is so strong that it can lift objects weighing about 350 kg. With the help of finger-like processes, this animal is also able to deftly pick up blades of grass or even hold a brush for painting.

For communication

Not only is the trunk used for breathing (and smelling, drinking and feeding), it is also important for communication with other members of the herd, including greetings and petting. The relationship between a mother female and her offspring is protective and calming. Mothers and other members of the herd pet their young in different ways. They may wrap their trunk around the baby elephant's back leg, belly, shoulder and neck, and often touch its mouth. A gentle rumbling sound often accompanies an affectionate gesture.

Elephants' trunks appeared in the process of evolution

This part of the elephant's body gradually evolved over tens of millions of years as the ancestors of modern elephants adapted to the changing demands of their animals. The earliest identified ancestors of elephants, such as Phosphaterium, 50 million years ago, did not have any trunks; but as competition for the leaves of trees and shrubs increased, the animals were forced