African Forest Elephant
The smallest living elephant, a critically endangered seed-spreader of Africa's rainforests.
via Wikipedia: African forest elephant · see source
The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) lives in the humid tropical forests of West Africa and the Congo Basin. With an average shoulder height of 2.16 m, it is the smallest of the three living elephant species, and both males and females carry straight tusks that point downward. By eating fruit and scattering seeds far through its droppings, it helps shape the diversity of the Guinean Forests of West Africa and the Congolese rainforests. Overhunting has pushed it into steep decline, and since 2021 it has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Quick Facts
- Genus
- Loxodonta
- Species
- cyclotis
Facts from the source article.
Background
Paul Matschie described the animal in 1900 from skulls collected by the Sanaga River in southern Cameroon, calling it Elephas (Loxodonta) cyclotis. For a long time it was treated as a subspecies of a single African elephant, but anatomical and DNA studies showed that forest and bush elephants are separate species that split at least 1.9 million years ago. The so-called African pygmy elephant turned out to be a forest elephant whose small size reflects its environment. Ancient DNA also shows that the extinct straight-tusked elephant of Europe interbred with forest elephants, inheriting over 1/3 of its nuclear genome from them.
Did You Know?
- It can carry seeds at least 5 km before dropping them.
- The largest recorded tusk for the species was 2.41 m long and weighed 60 kg.
- Central African populations fell by around 86% in the 31 years before 2021.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the forest elephant different from the bush elephant?
It is much smaller, with a nearly straight back, oval ears and straight, downward-pointing tusks, and it lives in rainforest rather than savanna.
Where do African forest elephants live?
In tropical forests from Cameroon to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the largest population in Gabon, and in Upper Guinean forests in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
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