So, What Exactly Are Elephants?
Elephants are mammals in the taxonomic family Elephantidae, which includes three living species: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. All elephants have long trunks, tusks, large ears, thick legs, and tough grey skin. Elephants are the largest living land species, with the largest African bush elephant on record measuring nearly 4 m tall and 11,000 kg.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Proboscidea
- Family: Elephantidae
Cool Facts About Elephant for Kids
The 3 elephant species hold the top 3 spots for heaviest land animals.
African bush elephants are the heaviest land animals in the animal kingdom, with an average mass of a whopping 4,900 kg. Asian elephants come in 2nd, with an average mass of 4,150 kg, and African forest elephants in 3rd with an average mass of 2,700 kg. The white rhinoceros, which is 4th in line, comes in at about 2,000 kg on average—less than half of that of both the African bush and Asian elephants.
Elephants have the longest pregnancies of any animal, lasting about 660 days.
By comparison, a human pregnancy lasts less than half as long, at about 280 days. Female elephants usually have about 4 offspring in their lives of on average 60-70 years. When an elephant gives birth, the other elephants in the herd form a circle around her to protect her and her new baby from predators.
