Elephants are the largest existing land animals. They are the only
surviving members of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea.
Three living species are recognised: the African bush elephant, the
African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant (all pictured).
Distinctive features of elephants include a long, flexible proboscis
(trunk), long tusks, large ear flaps, pillar-like legs, and grey skin.
They are herbivorous, and stay near water when it is accessible. Females
(cows) tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female
with her calves or several related females with offspring. After
reaching adulthood, males (bulls) live separately, either alone or with
other males. Elephants communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound.
Threats to their populations include poaching for their ivory tusks,
habitat destruction, and conflicts with local people. Elephants are
iconic in human culture and have been featured in art, folklore,
religion, literature, and popular culture.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1952:
Thirteen Jewish poets were executed in Moscow for espionage
based on false confessions.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Murdered_Poets>
1969:
The Troubles: Riots erupted in the neighbourhood of Bogside in
Derry, and spread across much of Northern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Northern_Ireland_riots>
1985:
Japan Air Lines Flight 123 crashed into Mount Takamagahara in
Gunma Prefecture, killing 520 of 524 people on board in the world's
worst single-aircraft aviation disaster.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Air_Lines_Flight_123>
1990:
Near Faith, South Dakota, American paleontologist Sue
Hendrickson found one of the most complete discovered Tyrannosaurus rex
skeletons, nicknamed Sue (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_%28dinosaur%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kangaroo court:
(originally US, idiomatic) A judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a
group of people which conducts such proceedings, which is without proper
authority, and often acts abusively or decides unjustly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kangaroo_court>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Multiplicity is only apparent, in truth, there is only one mind.
--Erwin Schrödinger
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erwin_Schr%C3%B6dinger>
Show replies by date