Original photo by Independent birds/ Shutterstock
Unlike gorillas, wild turkeys, and many other male-dominant species, elephants are matriarchal. The leader of each herd (the group is also sometimes known as a memory) tends to be the oldest and largest female around. She has a lot of responsibility — a herd can consist of anywhere from eight to 100 elephants, and include many calves that the entire group looks after. Elephants aren’t the only matriarchal species, though. Lemurs, meerkats, spotted hyenas, orcas, and many other animals are also led by females — killer whales, in fact, stay with their mothers their entire lives.
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It's a factDespite being known as the “kings” of the jungle, lions also live in matriarchal societies. Known as prides, these groups usually consist of 15 to 40 lions in which the females hunt while the males protect the group.
Even so, patriarchies are far more common. Of the 76 non-human mammals analyzed in one study, the vast majority were led by males. Whether a species is matriarchal or patriarchal depends on a variety of factors, including physical strength, longevity, and the social bonds they form with one another. Female hyenas are stronger than their male counterparts, for instance, whereas “elephant females are born to leadership” in part because they’re better at remembering the location of water and other vital resources, according to Cynthia Moss of Amboseli Trust for Elephants.
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The elephant’s closest relative on land is the ______.
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The elephant’s closest relative on land is the hyrax.
Elephant tusks are actually teeth.
It’s common knowledge that elephant tusks are made of ivory. Less well-known is the fact that they’re actually teeth. Deeply rooted and made of a bony tissue called dentin, tusks are also covered in enamel. They never stop growing, meaning that an elephant with especially long tusks is likely old and wise. Also, no two tusks are alike. Not all elephants have tusks, however — most African elephants do, but only some male Asian elephants grow them.
Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.
