Feet

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Definition of Feet

From the elephant glossary Section: elephant anatomy

The frontfoot of asian elephants has five nails.

�T�h�e� �h�i�n�d�f�o�o�t� �o�f� �a�s�i�a�n� �e�l�e�p�h�a�n�t�s� �h�a�s� �f�o�u�r� �n�a�i�l�s�.

Relevant Literature about Feet
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Elephants, the largest living land mammals, have evolved a specialized foot morphology to help reduce locomotor pressures while supporting their large body mass. Peak pressures that could cause tissue damage are mitigated passively by the Anatomy of elephants' feet, yet this mechanism does not seem to work well for some captive animals. (Foot pressure distributions during walking in African elephants (Loxodonta africana) Olga Panagiotopoulou, et.al)

Most problems are husbandry-related, if the elephants stables have a floor of concrete. Solutions can be to cover the concrete floor with rubber, or if possible, cover the concrete floor with sand.

Elephants can also "hear" through their feet. Caitlin O'Connell from discovered that hey are specialists in seismic communication, relying upon sound waves that travel within the surface of the ground instead of through the air.

I'm hoping this will spur a lot more study with large mammals," said the 41-year-old O'Connell, whose book, "The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa," came out in March.

Reference list Koehl, Dan, (2024). Feet. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 20 September 2021 at https://www.elephant.se/index.php?id=19. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

Selected publications

Benz, Andreas. The elephant’s hoof : macroscopic and microscopic morphology of defined locations under consideration of pathological changes. 2005, University of Zurich, Vetsuisse Faculty.

Links about Feet

Selected external links for this article about Feet:

Foot pressure distributions during walking in African elephants (Loxodonta africana), Olga Panagiotopoulou, Todd C. Pataky, Madeleine Day, Michael C. Hensman, Sean Hensman, John R. Hutchinson and Christofer J. Clemente, 01 October 2016 online at https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160203

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Categories glossary | anatomy |

About this documentThis document was created: 2004-02-01. Latest update: 2023-08-21 07:55:39 included 1135 characters with valid HTML5