Elephants
Category archives for Elephants
There are two species of African elephant
Posted by Greg Laden on December 21, 2010 Everyone knows that there are two kinds of elephants in this world: Asian and African. The Asian is the only one that can be trained and the African ones live in harmony with their environment until hunters come by and shoot them. Scratch a little deeper, and the African bush elephant lives by destroying its…
Important and cool nature and conservation news.
Posted by Greg Laden on June 19, 2009 You really must give up seafood from the ocean. Or at least, there is an argument that says this, and you can read it here. Wolverines. I once saw a wolverine in a state that was known to not have wolverines anymore. That was a long time ago and I think they are recognized as…
A particular elephant
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2008 This particular elephant was one of the nicest elephants I’ve ever met. click for a larger picture I was leading a tour group in the vicinity of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The local guide suggested that we could take a walk along a particular trail, as long as vehicles stayed near by…
Mammoth DNA Sequence
Posted by Greg Laden on November 23, 2008 The genome of the extinct woolley mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) has been sequenced, and reported in Nature. This confirms that elephant genomes are large, like the elephants themselves. It confirms previously proposed relationships amongst the elephants (see phylogeny below) and refines the known phylogeny. Interpopulation differences among mammoths were also demonstrated. Here’s the phylogeny: Comparison of…
Elephants Are Not Ethnic-Blind
Posted by Greg Laden on October 17, 2008 I have had this experience. I’ve traveled literally hundreds of kilometers by foot together with Efe (Pygmy) hunters in the Ituri Forest. We see very few animals. The few we do see are attacked, killed, and eaten. Well, a lot of them actually get away, but that is the idea. But I’ve also traveled many…
Elephants Were Aquatic
Posted by Greg Laden on April 15, 2008 That elephants have an aquatic ancestry has been suspected for some time now. Moreover, the idea of elephant aquatic origins and elephant origins in general is part of a growing realization that many of the world’s aquatic mammals originated in a couple of regions of Africa that were for a very long time enormous inland…
Did sexist white males cause the extinction of the woolly mammoth, or was it climate change?
Posted by Greg Laden on April 7, 2008 Ever since 3,599 years ago humans have been asking the question “Why did our furry elephant go extinct?” What caused the woolly mammoth’s (not to be confused with the also-woolly mastodon) extinction? Climate warming in the Holocene might have driven the extinction of this cold-adapted species, yet the species had survived previous warming periods, suggesting…
Elephants Are Not Ethnic-Blind
Posted by Greg Laden on April 6, 2008 I have had this experience. I’ve traveled literally hundreds of kilometers by foot together with Efe (Pygmy) hunters in the Ituri Forest. We see very few animals. The few we do see are attacked, killed, and eaten. Well, a lot of them actually get away, but that is the idea. But I’ve also traveled many…
Nature News
Posted by Greg Laden on February 26, 2008 Hunting Wolves; Killing Elephants
How to catch a herd of elephants
Posted by Greg Laden on January 27, 2008 You need: a pair of binoculars a pair of tweezers a bottle a cork an elephant call.