The Agility Of An Elephants Trunk

An elephant uses its trunk for daily survival

An elephants trunk is specialized in performing a variety of daily tasks. It is the elephant's most important body part and this long, boneless and flexible appendage contains over 40,000 muscles.

Just as a comparison, the human body has over 600 muscles while the Flexibility of an elephants trunk could be somewhat compared to that of a human tongue - (go on...you cant resist twisting it!) but the trunk has much more capabilities.

The Elephants trunk has multiple functions which include; breathing, smelling, touching, grasping, making sound, sucking up and holding water for drinking or bathing, communicating, digging holes to look for water, playing, picking up sand to give itself a sand bath and so much more!

Because it has all those muscles and is boneless, the trunk can twist and maneuver effortlessly to aid in collecting its food. The two finger like extensions found right at the tip of the trunk enable it to hold and bring the food to its mouth.

Comments

Lions Mating Up Close In Kenya

This lion and lioness are mating really close to the road.

The Roughness Of A Lions Tongue

A lions tongue has numerous tiny spines called papillae Pet lovers with a domestic cat at home will relate to this story quite well, as they would have had their hands or fingers licked by their cat's tongue at some point or another. A lion’s tongue is no less different in design to that of a house cats, with the exception that its sheer size and heaviness would make a lions tongue as rough and harsh as sandpaper! But why is the lions tongue so rough and how is this beneficial? The reason for its roughness is that the surface of the lions tongue is covered in many tiny spines called papillae, which are further divided into 3 types namely; Filiform, Fungiform and Vallate papillae. The cats filiform papillae which is located on the tongues dorsal surface, is the main reason for the roughness, and these can also be compared to barbs since they face backwards in the direction of the throat. Having a barbed tongue is beneficial to the lion for a number of reasons. I...

The Unique Looking Guitar Fish

Guitar Fish resting on the sea bed One of the most interesting characteristics about the guitar fish is its unique body shape. It seemingly looks like a cross between a shark and a ray - with its flattened ray like head yet it has a long shark like body with dorsal fins - but this fish is actually a classification of its own and has about 50 subspecies. The guitar fish prefers to remain tranquil on the sea bed, partly covering itself with sand to camouflage itself for any unsuspecting prey such as crabs or small fish that may come past it. Reaching sizes of approximately two meters in length, they are quite docile so can easily be approached by underwater photographers.

WILD KENYA SAFARIS - Kenya Safaris, Diani Beach Safaris, Mombasa Safaris and more

Search This Blog