Elephants
by: Zack j, Felicia s, Jordan t
The Present
Elephant ancestors roamed the lands of Africa, Asia, and South America about 36 million years ago. In an article we found out elephants' number have reduced 62% over the last decade, and they could be extinct by the next decade. About 100 African elephants are killed each day by poachers seeking ivory, meat, and body parts leaving only 400,000 remaining. Between 2010 and 2014 the price of ivory in China has tripled making Elephants more of a target for the poachers. An average adult elephant weighs about 5,000 to 14,000 lbs and is about 8.2 to 13 ft tall. A newborn weighs about 200 lbs and 3ft tall .
The past
We looked at the past of elephants and we concluded that the elephants came from an animal called Palaeomastodon. They lived about 36 or 35 million years ago. They are about 1 to 2 meters, or 6 ft, tall and weigh about 2 tons, or 4,000 lbs. About 38 million years ago the ancestors of modern elephants occupied a variety of extreme environments; these include tropical rain forests to deserts in both high and low altitudes. They lived in every continent except Australia and Antarctica. So how did Palaeomastodon become extinct? One possible explanation was that they couldn't evolve quick enough to stay with the environment. Both the African and Asian elephants have many attributes which is why they survived and others did not.
The Future
Seeing the past of the elephants and the problems we have today we assume the Elephants will grow bigger ears and sharper ivory. Elephants' ears will grow bigger because of global warming.We learned that many newborn elephants die because of heat stroke. As we said before many of the Palaeomastodon weren't able to adapt to their environment and that trait could be passed down to the modern day elephants. If an Elephant from an area further away from the equator moves near the equator will need a better cooling system. They would need a better cooling system, so they can survive from the heat The elephants will also have sharper ivory, so they can intimidate the poachers and defend themselves.
The 3 steps of speciation is separation, adaptation,and division. For separation, global warming will melt ice caps, raise sea level, and make new rivers which could separate elephants. For adaptation, the elephants will be closer to the equator. They will be in a hotter environment and will need a better cooling system, so their ears will get bigger. To avoid elephants poaching, elephants will get bigger tusks to defend themselves. Eventually, the river could go away due to erosion, but the elephants would be too different to mate since they would adapt to the their previous environment.
our new species
Words To know
Speciation - The formation of new species as a result evolution
Species - A group of organism that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring.
Adaptation - A characteristic that improves an individual's ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
Evolution- the process in which inherited characteristics within a population change over generation such that new species sometime arise.
Species - A group of organism that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring.
Adaptation - A characteristic that improves an individual's ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
Evolution- the process in which inherited characteristics within a population change over generation such that new species sometime arise.
Sources
- Allen, Katy Z. Life Science. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005. Print.
- "Kruger National Park." - SANParks. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/elephants/about/evolution.php
- "Palaeomastodon." Palaeomastodon. N.p., 2011. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.
http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/p/palaeomastodon.html
- "About Elephants." World Elephant Day. N.p., 12 Aug. 2014. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.
http://worldelephantday.org/about/elephants