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Evolutionary Story of the

African Elephant

Callie Woods

12/22/2020

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How My Living Thing Changed Over Time

Moeritherium - 55.8–33.9 million years ago

Appearance	Prehensile upper lip Large as a tapir Short, strong legs, a relatively long body, and a short tail Skull and cheekbone were long, and the eyes were set very far forward
Environment	Lived in swamps or river systems.
Adaptations	Muscular upper lip that helped grip hold of plants. Hippo-shaped body helped it swim in water.
Evidence for Evolution	Enlarged incisor teeth (like small elephant tusks) in both jaws. Long, flexible upper lip and snout point to the evolutionary origins of the elephant's trunk.

How My Living Thing Changed Over Time

Gomphotherium - 13.65 to 3.6 million years ago

Appearance	4 tusks; 2 straight ones in the upper jaw and 2 straight ones in the lower jaw. Barrel shaped body Short tails Normal length trunks Small earls Long legs and fan-like ears
Environment	Woodland and Shrubland environments
Adaptations	Tusks helped to shear vegetation from trees and shrubs. Teeth - had very high ridges, which were ideal for grinding very tough foods, like branches.
Evidence for Evolution	Fossils of this animal share similar attributes to the modern day elephant, such as the long trunk, top pair of tusks, and thick strong legs.

How My Living Thing Changed Over Time

Mammuthus primigenius- 5 million years ago

Appearance	Long, shaggy, light to dark brown or black coat Large head Massive body with sloping backs and large humps on the shoulders Huge curved trunks Short tail Long nose-like a trunk
Environment	Arid steppe-tundras spanning all the way from north-western Canada, through Beringia, to the west of Europe and as far south as Spain.
Adaptations	Long thick hair kept its body and kept it warm, in the cold temperatures. Long tusks - used to get food through the snow and ice Small ears - minimized heat loss
Evidence for Evolution	In 2008, the woolly mammoth's chromosomal DNA was mapped. The analysis showed that the woolly mammoth and the African elephant are 98.55% to 99.40% identical.

My Living Thing

(African Elephant)

Scientific Name	Loxodonta africana
Appearance	Long trunk Columnar legs Huge head with temporal glands Big wide, flat ears Grayish to brown in colour, and their body hair is sparse and coarse 2 long curved tusks
Environment	Savannas of sub-Saharan Africa and the rainforests of central and West Africa.
Adaptations	Big ears and wrinkly skin help them stay cool Tusks made of ivory that can help them eat and protect themselves. Thick layer of skin to protect it from the heat It’s trunk helps it grab things and collect water.
Future Evolution?	I believe they will evolve to lose their tusks because of poaching, which can lead to many consequences of their species because they use their tusks for a lot of things.

Timeline of Living Thing

Moeritherium

Gomphotherium

Mammuthus primigenius

African Elephant

Evolution Summary

The Moeritherium lived in lived in swampy areas and river systems, the Gomphotherium lived in woodland and shrubland environments, the Mammuthus primigenius (Woolly Mammoth) lived in frigid and arid steppe-tundras, and the African Elephant lives in Savannahs, rainforests, and desert environment, hot environments.
Natural Selection is when nature, or the environment, selects which living things will survive to pass on their traits to their offspring. The way this applies to the African Elephant because over decades they have changed and evolved to survive in their environment and continued to pass on their traits to their offspring for them o survive.
Over time ancestors of the African Elephants have had to adapt to their environment. One examples include growing tusks to get to their food, dig, and protect themselves. Another example is the Mammuthus primigenius (Woolly Mammoth) long thick hair to keep themselves warm during frigid temperatures. Another example is the Gomphotherium’s teeth had very high ridges, which were ideal for grinding very tough foods, like branches.

Resources Used for Information:

I trusted this source because National Geographic is a well known reliable source, that provides credible and factual information.

https://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/elephants/about/evolution.php#:~:text=Fossil%20evidence&text=About%20a%20metre%20tall%2C%20Moeritherium,it%20has%20no%20known%20descendants.

I trusted this resource for information because it is the website of South African National Parks, so they are made of professionals.

I trusted this resource for information because this website is made up of professional paleontologists, has partnered with PBS, and is a .org.