Elephant glossary
Plain English definitions of the words you will meet when reading about elephants, from allomother to tush. Terms link to the pages where they are explained in more depth.
- Alert circle
- A defensive formation in which adult elephants bunch together facing outward with calves in the middle. See behavior.
- Allomother
- A female, other than the mother, who helps care for and protect a calf, often an older sister or aunt.
- Bai
- A natural clearing in Central African rainforest, often with mineral rich water and soil, where forest elephants gather. See forest elephant.
- Bond group
- Two or more closely related elephant families that split from one another but stay loosely associated and greet each other when they meet.
- Bull
- An adult male elephant. Adult females are called cows and young elephants calves.
- Bullhook (ankus)
- A handler's tool with a sharp hook on a pole, used to control captive elephants; its presence is a red flag at tourist venues. See ethical viewing.
- CITES
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the treaty that has banned international commercial ivory trade since 1990. Appendix I is its strictest listing.
- Ecosystem engineer
- An animal that physically reshapes its habitat. Elephants open up woodland, dig water holes and spread seeds.
- Frugivore
- An animal that eats mainly fruit. African forest elephants are browser frugivores.
- Infrasound
- Sound below about 20 hertz, too low for most people to hear. Elephant rumbles include infrasonic components that travel long distances. See communication.
- Ivory
- The dentine that makes up most of an elephant's tusk.
- Mahout
- A person who works with and handles a captive elephant, a role common in South and Southeast Asia.
- Makhna
- A South Asian term for an adult male Asian elephant without tusks.
- Matriarch
- The older female who leads an African elephant family, usually its oldest member.
- Molar progression
- The way elephant molars move forward through the jaw like a conveyor belt and are replaced from behind, up to six times in a lifetime. See teeth.
- Musth
- A periodic state in adult bulls of greatly raised testosterone, aggression and secretion from the temporal glands. See bulls and musth.
- Pachyderm
- From the Greek for "thick skinned"; an informal name for elephants, rhinos and hippos.
- Proboscidea
- The order of mammals that includes elephants and their extinct relatives such as mammoths and mastodons.
- Rumble
- A low frequency elephant call used to keep in contact and coordinate the group.
- Temporal gland
- A gland on each side of the head between the eye and ear that secretes fluid, especially during musth or excitement.
- Trunk (proboscis)
- The fused nose and upper lip, with no bones, used for breathing, smelling, feeding, drinking, touching and sound. See trunk.
- Tush
- A small, brittle tusk that barely protrudes beyond the lip, typical of female Asian elephants.
- Tusk
- An elongated upper incisor tooth that grows throughout life. See tusks.
- Tuskless
- An elephant that never grows tusks. Common in male Asian elephants, and more common in some heavily poached African populations.