In the beginning, God created elephants. African elephants are the largest land animals. The bulls can stand 13 feet tall and weigh 15,000 pounds.
How these large animals communicate has been for the most part unknown until recently, for although they trumpet and use body language, the majority of their sounds are below the human hearing range. It is now known that elephants have over 25 different calls in infrasound, meaning below sound. Because of their poor eyesight, God made the elephants to rely on the sound of their voices to recognize one another, even members of another herd.
Large ears are very important on the African savannah where elephants use them for hearing, but also to cool off. One way they use to cool off is to flap their ears to make a good breeze.
God made African elephants with wrinkly skin which is also helpful for keeping cool. When elephants shower water over themselves, the wrinkles trap the water, and as the water slowly evaporates, it cools them down.
An elephant’s trunk is amazing. It has no bones, and over 100,000 muscles units, making the trunk very flexible and also very strong. African elephants have two fingers on the end of their trunk and they use these fingers like a hand. Elephants are extremely coordinated with their trunks and are also very gentle; gentle enough to pick up and eggshell without crushing it.
Another interesting feature that God gave elephants is their tusks. Tusks are actually huge teeth and they are the biggest teeth ever found. They are usually about 6 feet long and 50 pounds; the longest tusk ever found was 11.5 feet long and the heaviest was 259 pounds. Elephants tusks are called incisors, and they can lift up to 2,000 pounds with them. Elephants grow 6 sets of four huge molars in their lifetime. When the last set wears out, the elephant starves to death, usually at the age of 60 or 70.
Such a large animal as the elephant has to eat a lot; about 300 pounds of vegetation and 50 gallons of water per day. In fact, elephants spend about 20 hours per day eating.
Elephants live in herds that usually consist of 5-20 members. The oldest female elephant is the herd leader, called the matriarch. She would have the best memory of where to find food and water. Herds of elephants are all females and are usually all related
Family bonds between elephants are very strong, especially between mother and daughters. When an elephant is dying, the other herd members will gather around and bring it food and water and sometimes they even try to lift it to its feet with their trunks. Once it dies, the others will cover its body with sticks and leaves. Sometimes the dead elephants closest relatives will refuse to leave for several days, even after the rest of the herd has gone.
Elephants are known to be extremely smart and both their physical features and their mental capabilities show design. These animal have quite obviously been created by the creator of all things.