Ears

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Definition of Ears

From the elephant glossary Section: elephant anatomy Section: anatomy

The ear of an Asian elephant in Cambodia

Behind the ear is sometimes a round "ball" to be seen

When elephants eat lots of Tannins, or Tannoids (like wild elephants and elephants kept in semi-natural environment), the ball gets larger. Behind the ear is sometimes a round "ball" to be seen

Relevant Literature about Ears
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Elephant ears have thick bases with thin tips. The ear flaps, or pinnae, contain numerous blood vessels called capillaries. Warm blood flows into the capillaries, helping to release excess body heat into the environment. This occurs when the pinnae are still, and the animal can enhance the effect by flapping them. Larger ear surfaces contain more capillaries, and more heat can be released.

When you see a picture of African elephants, keeping the ears close to the body, this may be an indication that the picture was taken in early morning, when its still a bit cold.

Of all the elephants, African bush elephants live in the hottest climates, and have the largest ear flaps.

Elephants are capable of hearing at low frequencies and are most sensitive at 1 kHz (in close proximity to the Soprano C).

Behind the ear a round ball can sometimes be seen, which is actually a gland. The gland gets activated when elephants eat lots of plants which include Tannins, or Tannoids (like wild elephants and elephants kept in semi-natural environment), and the ball gets larger.

This may also be seen in captive conditions, like a zoo, when and if the elephants get a lot of branches. If theres a lack a branches, the ball is visually absent.

Using elephants ears for identification

The ears of individual elephants may have different location, size and shape, and have characteristic ear patterns, and they may have collapsed or folded ears.

They may also have notches, tears and holes, and are one of the noticeable physical features which differ between individuals, and can be used to identify individuals on spot, or from photographs, by noting venation patterns on the ears.

Over the course of almost 25 years, the organisation Elephants Alive in South Africa has developed a unique System of Elephant Ear-pattern Knowledge (SEEK), which makes allowance for rapid individual identification of Savanna elephants with reduced observer bias using basic software while also accommodating missing information or changes in identification features over time.

Elephants Alive also developed an identification database consisting of over 2,000 elephants by documenting their unique features.

Ears is mentioned on 47 other pagesIntelligence, Rumbling, Musth, Khedda, Ivory, EEKMA, Teeth, Ears, Depigmentation, Lungs, Elephants Alive, Circus elephant, Microfilaria, Skin care, Kumki, Immature, Free Contact, Human-Elephant-Conflict, Juvenile, Juvenile-musth, Maturity, The elephants child, Nulliparous, Progesterone, Tuskless, Anthrax, FAO Forestry Department, Colic, Foot and mouth disease, Artificial insemination, EEHV, Handrearing, Tuberculosis, Pellucid zone, Ticks, Menopause, Cortisol, Branding, Contraceptives, Do elephants cry?, White eye ring, Surra, Elephant attacks, Protected Contact, No Contact, Rabies, Rädda Skansens Elefanter,

Ears is mentioned on 20 person pagesAbelardo Moreno Bonilla, Addison Nathans, Adele Corty, Adolf Althoff, Agnes Mersman, Agnete Enoch, Albert Le Souef, Aleksandr Kornilov, Alexander Gautier, Alexander Bostock, Alfred Bullen, Alfred Ringling, Alfred Cops, Allewathegomme Pallegiddere Puncha, Alvin Kelly, Andrei Klykov, Ann Olivecrona, Anton Fischer, Arthur Bostock, Arthur Blumenfeld,

Ears is mentioned on 20 location pagesAalborg Zoo (Aalborg Zoologiske Have), Al G Barnes-Sells Floto Circus, Alexandria Zoo, Alfred Ezra, Amazing Bukit Safari, Amboseli National Park, American Circus, Amersfoort Zoo, Api Elephant Domestication Center, Aranjuez royal menageri, Arthur Wirtz, Auckland Zoo, Bailey Circus, Bali Elephant Camp (BEC), Bannerghatta Biological Park Zoo, Barnett Brothers Circus (Wallace Brothers Circus), Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum and Baileys circus European tour, Basel Zoo, Belfast Zoo,

Ears is mentioned on 20 elephant record pages Jayaprakash, Aaralam Siva, Abhimanyu, Abigail, Abul-Abbas, Achariyek Noelle, Adele, Affie, Aga, Aida, Airawat, Aishwarya, Aiswary Mala, Alana (twin), Albert, Albert, Ali, Alice, Alice, Alice,

Reference list Koehl, Dan, (2025). Ears. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 20 September 2021 at https://www.elephant.se/index.php?id=33. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

Who is who? Elephant identification tips and tricks https://africageographic.com/stories/who-is-who-elephant-identification-tips-and-tricks/

Selected publications

Huntington, Richards: A Further Report on the Anatomy of the Elephant's Ear

Links about Ears

Selected external links for this article about Ears:

Elephants anatomy on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant#Anatomy_and_morphology
How to use ear notches and tears to ID African elephants, online at https://www.elephantvoices.org/features-guide/139-elephantvoices/education/814-how-to-use-ear-notches-and-tears-to-id-african-elephants.html
System for Elephant Ear-pattern Knowledge (SEEK) to identify individual African elephants, October 2020Pachyderm 61:66, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344786206_System_for_Elephant_Ear-pattern_Knowledge_SEEK_to_identify_individual_African_elephants

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Categories glossary | anatomy |

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