Elephants Who Roamed the Earth Today and Yesterday


There used to be many different types of elephants living all over the world. These days, however, are only two types of elephants one in Africa and one in Asia. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the African species is named the Loxodonta africana and Asian species is called the Elephas maximus indicus .

One of the most well-known ancient elephants was the wooly mammoth. These creatures had thick coats of shaggy hair to keep them warm during freezing conditions in the ice age. They became extinct less than 10,000 years ago.

Another type of prehistoric elephant, Anacus , roamed Europe and Asia two million years ago. Like elephants today, Anacus used its tusks to help it gather food.

Not all ancient elephants had tusks, though. One of the first elephants, Moeritherium , from Africa, had no tusks at all and was closer in size to a large dog than to a modern elephant.

[Sources: 100 Things You Should Know About Prehistoric Life ; wwf.panda.org ]

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