The importance of sensory perception in an elephant's cognitive world

Abstract

The three extant species of the family Elephantidae — Asian (Elephas maximus), African savanna (Loxodonta africana), and African forest (L. cyclotis) elephants — have long trajectories of independent evolution. The African species diverged from the Asian species more than 6 million years ago (Rogaev et al., 2006), and the two African species diverged from each other more than 1.9 million years ago (Rohland et al., 2010). Although these species inhabit somewhat different ecosystems, they are all generalist feeders and consume a wide variety of grasses and browse depending on resource availability (Hatt & Clauss, 2006). All species are social, with the main social unit centering on adult female relatives and their offspring (Buss & Smith, 1966; McKay, 1973). The oldest female leads the group consistently in African savanna elephants (Douglas-Hamilton & Douglas-Hamilton,