The skin is thick and dry, and the few hairs are stiff.
Skin color varies from grey to brown.
In contrast to the African elephant, the Asian elephant's ears are much smaller, the back is not as sloping, the head rather than the shoulders is the highest part of the body, the trunk has a single finger-like projection rather than two, and the hind foot has 4 nails rather than 3. The cylindrical feet consist of reduced phalanges resting on a pad of elastic tissue. The cerebral hemisphere is quite convoluted, resembling that of humans and dolphins. The elephant's teeth are unique. If an elephant lives long enough to have used up all of its teeth it then starves to death.