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9/11/18 OT: The Elephant in the Room

The African elephant can be identified by its ears. Stretched out, its ears are shaped like the African continent. Asian elephants have smaller ears, which are more rounded on top and flat along the bottom. Heat radiates out of the elephant's massive ears, acting as a cooling mechanism.

The largest elephant ever recorded was an African elephant, according to the San Diego Zoo. It was 24,000 lbs. (10,886 kg) and 13 feet (3.96 m) tall from its feet to its shoulders.

When it gets too hot, African elephants will suck water into their trunks and then blow it back out to shower themselves with a cool mist.

An elephant's trunk has more than 100,000 muscles, according to National Geographic. They use it to breathe, pick things up, make noises, drink and smell.

In the same way that humans tend to be right-handed or left-handed, elephants can be right-tusked or left-tusked. Their dominant tusk is easy to identify, because it will be more worn down than the less dominant tusk, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

An elephant's skin can be as thick as 1 inch, but it is sensitive to the sun. To protect it, elephants will cover themselves in mud or dust.