Types of elephants: the 3 types of elephants

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If you played the original Trivial Chase game, the answer to “How many species” elephants are there?” would be two. But in 2000, scientists were able to analyze the DNA of the elephants and found that the African elephant that lives on the savanna and the African elephant that lives in the rainforest are actually two distinctly different species. So now the answer on your Trivial Chase question would be three!

How many species of elephants live today?

elephant-herd-running — A herd of elephants on the run

There are currently three species of elephants living in the world, namely:

African forest elephant: De biggest elephant kind
African forest elephant: The “latest” elephant species that DNA evidence revealed be a separate species in 2000
asian elephant: Elephants that live in Asia and have significant physical differences from African elephants

Now you may have heard of other elephant species as well. The Asian elephant has 3-4 (scientists are still discussing the number) subspecies those are subgroups of the Asian elephant. Let’s take a look at the differences between each type of elephant!

Type #1: African forest elephant

Tallest Animals: African Forest Elephant — An African Forest Elephant on the Savannah

The African forest elephant is the largest of the elephants and is characterized by large floppy ears in the shape of Africa. They have long trunks and large white tusks. Compared to the African forest elephant, African bush elephants have longer front legs than their hind legs, their ears are larger, and their tusks are more curved and pointed outward. Another difference is that they live in the savanna, as their name suggests, and usually eat on grass.

Type #2: African forest elephant

Are elephants mammals - baby elephant with mother? — A mother of an African forest elephant with her calf, at the saline at Dzanga (a forest clearing) in the Central African Republic.

The African forest elephant is smaller than the African bush elephant and their ears are more oval in shape. They too have long trunks and large tusks, but their tusks are straighter and point downwards. The tusks also have a pink tint which makes them more susceptible

to poachers. Forest elephants live in the rainforest where they can find many fruits, the main source of their diet. They also eat grass, leaves, seeds and tree bark.

Species #3: Asian Elephant

Elephant Population - Asian Elephant Mother with Elephant Baby — An Asian elephant with a newborn baby

The asian elephant is smaller than the African forest elephant and can be dark gray to dark brown and have depigmented skin (spots of unpigmented skin). There are 3-4 subspecies of Asian elephants based on the regions they live in. One distinct difference between Asian and African elephants is that the Asian elephant’s head has a double dome, meaning it has a groove in the center. Another difference is that only male Asian elephants can have tusks while both male and female African elephants can have tusks. Looking at the three-four subspecies of Asian elephants here are some of the unique facts about each:

indian elephant: Most common Asian elephant with 26,000-30,000 left in Asia.
Sri Lankan Elephant: Largest subspecies in size with a weight of 4,000-12,000 lbs.
Sumatran elephant: These elephants have a more universal color and less depigmented areas. They are smaller than the Indian and Sri Lankan elephants.
Bornean Elephant: Smallest Asian subspecies, also called the Bornean dwarf elephant.

As we can do more research on each of these specificities and subspecies, we can learn more about their habitats, diets and reproduction so we can increase their numbers and take them off the endangered list. Each type of elephant plays a vital role in contributing to their ecosystem and as humans we can help protect them so they can thrive again!

Types of Extinct Elephants

Mastodon vs Mammoth — Woolly mammoths became extinct about 4,000 years ago.

Although there are only three species of elephant today, other elephants roamed the earth until a few thousand years ago. Let’s take a look at some species of elephants that have recently become extinct.

mammoths: Mammoths were closely related to Asian elephants and are known for wandering the vast Eurasian steppe. Still, mammoth species could also be found in North America, Africa, and Europe. The last remaining mammoth was the woolly mammoth, which is believed to have died out about 4,000 years ago with a last population surviving on an island off the northern coast of Russia.
Elephants with straight tusks: An elephant with straight tusks – Palaeoloxodon namadicus – was possibly the largest land animal to ever walk the earth! It is estimated that most straight-tusked elephants became extinct about 30,000 years ago. One species, a straight-tusked dwarf elephant that lived on islands in the Mediterranean, is believed to be the last surviving species and became extinct about 3,000 years ago as a result of human hunting.

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