In the elephant world, moms rule
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Make every day more interesting. Each day a surprising fact opens a world of fascinating information for you to explore. Did you know that….? 
| | Original photo by Independent birds/ Shutterstock |
| Elephants are matriarchal. | Unlike gorillas, wild turkeys, and many other male-dominant species, elephants are matriarchal. The leader of each herd (the group is also sometimes known as a memory) tends to be the oldest and largest female around. She has a lot of responsibility — a herd can consist of anywhere from eight to 100 elephants, and include many calves that the entire group looks after. Elephants aren't the only matriarchal species, though. Lemurs, meerkats, spotted hyenas, orcas, and many other animals are also led by females; killer whales, in fact, stay with their mothers their entire lives.
Even so, patriarchies are far more common. Of the 76 nonhuman mammals analyzed in one study, the vast majority were led by males. Whether a species is matriarchal or patriarchal depends on a variety of factors, including physical strength, longevity, and the social bonds they form with one another. Female hyenas are stronger than their male counterparts, for instance, whereas "elephant females are born to leadership" in part because they're better at remembering the location of water and other vital resources, according to Cynthia Moss of Amboseli Trust for Elephants.
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 | | Lions are matriarchal too. | | |
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| Lions are matriarchal too. |  |  |
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| The elephant's closest relative on land is the __. |  |
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 | Numbers Don't Lie |
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 | | Species of elephants currently recognized (two African and one Asian) | | 3 |
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| | | Muscles in an elephant's trunk | | 40,000 |
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| | Hours per day elephants spend eating | | 12-18 |
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| | | Year "Dumbo" was added to the National Film Registry | | 2017 |
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 | Elephant tusks are actually teeth. |
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| It's common knowledge that elephant tusks are made of ivory. Less well-known is the fact that they're actually teeth. Deeply rooted and made of a bony tissue called dentin, tusks are also covered in enamel. They never stop growing, meaning that an elephant with especially long tusks is likely old and wise. Also, no two tusks are alike. Not all elephants have tusks, however — most African elephants do, but only some male Asian elephants grow them. | | |
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posted by June Lesley at 5:16 AM
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