African forest elephant

The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is an elephant which lives in the forests of the Congo Basin.

It is often considered a separate species from the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana); a 2010 study said that the two elephants were two different species. However, since the two groups can interbreed successfully, they may only be separate subspecies of Loxodonta africana. They are probably forest elephants whose small size is adapted to  the rainforest conditions.

 Differences
The differences include that the African forest elephant has a long, narrow mandible (the African bush elephant's is short and wide), it has rounded ears (an African bush elephant's ears are more pointed), straighter and downward tusks, smaller size, and more toenails. The male African forest elephant rarely grows more than 2.5 metres (8 ft) in height, while the African bush elephant is usually over 3 metres (just under 10 feet) and sometimes almost 4 metres (13 ft) tall. The African bush elephant normally has 4 toenails on the frontfoot and 3 on the hindfoot, the African forest elephant normally has 5 toenails on the frontfoot and 4 on the hindfoot (like the Asian elephant).
thumb | right | 200px | An African forest elephant

 Diet
The African forest elephant is a herbivore (plant eater) and commonly eats leaves, grass, fruit, and bark, and sometimes visits places where it can lick salt.

References

Other websites

 BBC Wildlife Finder - video clips from the BBC archive 
 ARKive - Images and movies of the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) 
 PBS Nature: Tracking Forest Elephants 
 Forest Elephant Program
 Elephant Information Repository  - An in-depth resource on elephants
 The Elephant Listening Project - Information on forest elephants and their vocalizations.

Category:Elephants
Category:Mammals of Africa