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The word "Elephant" has both Greek and Latin origins, and its scientific genus name “Elephas”. The genus name Loxodonta, for the African elephant means lozenge-shaped teeth for the chewing surfaces. Elephos (in Greek) represents an antlered beast or stag. In Latin  “ele” means arch and “phant” which means huge.

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The first elephant ancestors began their trek through the evolutionary cycle 60 million years ago. Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea ( which is now extinct), There are two large living relatives of the group of the Elephantidae group,  which are the Indian Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) and the larger African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana), these two elephants are closely related to the extinct mammoths that once roamed the planet. Ancestors of the family include Primelephas and Stegodibelodon. The phylogeny tree indicates that Elephas and Mammuthus were sister taxa to Loxodonta. Many experts believe that the Mammoth which is now extinct is an early form of the elephant.

Animals that predated modern elephants by tens of millions of years ago include..

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All elephants have several distinctive features, such as their large ear flaps that are used to help to control their body temperature, pillar-like legs can carry their hefty weight, long trunks that are used for many purposes, such as breathing, lifting water, grasping objects and is a convenient way of reaching food and water on the ground Their incisors-which are sharp-edged tooth in mammals that is adapted for cutting or gnawing-grow into tusks that can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging.

The African Savanna Elephant(Loxodonta africana)...
Is on average is 3-4 meters+ tall at the shoulder and weighs between 4 and 6 tons at full size, and a saddle-shaped back, low-domed head,
They have long trunks that is capable of grasping and is formed of the nose and upper lip with enormous flapping ears and gently upward curving ivory tusks.

The Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus)...
Is about 2-3 meters tall at the shoulder and weighs 3–5 tons. Its back is curved, and it has a double-domed head. The tusks are gently curved upwards and the ears are smaller than the African Elephant's as well. Lastly, the Asian Elephant has one "finger" at the tip of its trunk. The Asian elephant also has dorsal bumps on its head and some patches of depigmentation on its skin.

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During the evolution process many of the changes including the loss of the thick hair occurred. Furthermore, DNA testings suggest that in the prehistoric period some of the species were the size of pigs and cows.
It is also thought that the the current day elephant evolved from an aquatic animal that used its trunk as a sort of snorkel while it spent extended periods of time underwater, with only the tip of their trunk exposed above the water.

Just a couple million years ago, or so, every species that had four tusks and elongated lower jaws eventually died off, leaving only Deinotheres(family of prehistoric elephant-like proboscideans)
and the more familiar-looking twin-tusked proboscidians like the Stegodont (a genus of the extinct subfamily Stegodontinae of the order Proboscidea). It was assigned to the family Elephantidae, which lead to mammoths, mastodons, and several other species of proboscidean pachyderms (obsolete order of mammals that are large and have thick skin).

Populations of animals are controlled by many factors, since resources are rarely abundant in any given environment whenever resources are limited, animals are forced to compete for survival. Animals such as Elephants are likely to complete for are space, water, and food up till this day. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and wild dogs, and they usually target only the elephants young calves.

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sDuring the Ice Age, the elephants likely had very thick hair similar to the mammoth. However, as the temperatures got higher and warmer they didn’t have a need for it, which is why they got thicker skin and very little hair on it at all. This factor of evolving allowed them to live in regions where the temperatures were extremely hot, since the elephants were able to reduce their body temperatures and to regulate it according to the habitat they are situated in. This can also account for the larger size of the ears; they use them as fans to cool down. Additionally, ancestors of the elephant also habituated in water.

African elephants originated from the continent of Africa , and Asian elephants spread throughout Eurasia and they now exist in India, Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. Elephas maximus indicus is the Indian subspecies. Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They also prefer to stay near water.

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-http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/mesaxonia/elephantidae.php
-http://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/zoology-and-veterinary-medicine/zoology-general/competition-biology
-http://www.elephantsforever.co.za/elephant-evolution.html
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant
-http://www.elephantsforever.co.za/elephant-evolution.html