Discovering the stories elephants tell through their skin
From the sheer size of their wrinkly protective layer, to the lines criss-crossing their beautifully rounded shapes – their skins trace their stories, show us how they adapt to their habitat, and reveal behaviours that are truly unique!
Image by Ami Vitale
As deeply feeling animals whose close connections are vital for their survival, elephants support each other through thick and thin! We love how their ability to feel a wide range of emotions is mirrored in their skin – and learn so much about these gentle giants by looking at their bodies up close.
Think Big
Did you know that just the skin of an African elephant can weigh up to 900 kg? As their largest organ, it can add up to 900 kg (1,984 lb)! It’s hardly surprising, considering that their skin has to cover frames of nearly 4 m (13 ft).
What’s more, an elephant’s skin has to hold together a mass of up to 6,350 kg (14,000 lb) and inner pressure, so on vulnerable spots such as their trunks, legs, and backs, it can be 2.5-3 cm (around 1 in) thick.
Image by Ami Vitale
Paperthin
Having said that, an elephant’s skin is actually incredibly sensitive. It’s particularly thin in the areas behind its eyes and on its abdomen, chest, and shoulders. Some parts are so delicate that they’d notice a fly landing there! They may be the biggest land mammals, but even the tiniest of insects – including ants – get them all hot and bothered, especially if they go near their eyes, mouths, and inside their ears and trunks.
Image by Ami Vitale
Skin Sense
Of course, being sensitive also has a positive side! In Samburu, the word for skin is ‘njonii’ – and skin is after all the natural protective covering for a body, and where one experiences a sense of touch.
As incredibly affectionate animals, elephants are profoundly consoled through physical touch. One way in which they comfort loved ones is to stroke the skin on their heads or backs with their trunks.
Image by Ami Vitale
No Sweat!
Thermoregulation is essential out in the hot African wilderness, but believe it or not, elephants don’t sweat! Instead, they manage to keep cool thanks to their wrinkly skin. The folds and creases all over their bodies can retain up to 10 times more moisture than smooth skin – and help to keep the average temperature of an African elephant one centigrade less than the average human.
When elephants go for mud baths and splash about in water, their wrinkles – an intricate network of minuscule, micrometre-wide crevices – fill up with moisture and mud. While it would almost immediately get dry and caked up on human skin, it stays nice and wet on an elephant!
Apart from preventing dehydration and keeping them cool, the moisture protects their skin against parasites too.
Image by Louanne Brickhouse
Natural Sunscreen
Like most hairless mammals (although you wouldn’t say that ALL elephants are hairless when you look at Naisimari’s fluff and floof!), elephants are prone to sunburn.
While animals like hippos have an inherent antidote – and secrete a substance that scatters ultraviolet light – elephants found another solution in nature in the form of mud! Slathering liberal amounts of sloppy, wet mud all over their bodies with their trunks, they’re protecting their skins and keeping Africa’s harsh sun rays at bay!
Video by Louanne Brickhouse
