Elephants, like all mammals, possess a mouth, though their prominent trunk often overshadows this feature. The mouth serves as the primary entry point for sustenance, similar to other herbivores.
The Elephant’s Mouth
An elephant’s mouth is positioned underneath its trunk, serving as the gateway to its digestive system. This robust oral cavity houses powerful molars and a muscular tongue, both adapted for processing a fibrous diet. Elephants have a unique dental system, typically maintaining four molars at any given time, with one in each quadrant of their jaws. These teeth are wide and flat, designed for grinding tough vegetation such as branches and grass.
Throughout their long lives, elephants replace their molars up to six times. Unlike human teeth that grow vertically, new elephant molars emerge from the back of the jaw and gradually push older, worn-out teeth forward until they fall out. The elephant’s tongue is large and muscular, though it is rooted to the bottom of the mouth, limiting its ability to extend far. This tongue works in conjunction with the molars, pulling food to the back of the mouth for efficient chewing.
The Role of the Trunk
The elephant’s trunk is a complex and muscular appendage, formed from a fusion of the nose and upper lip. It contains 60,000 to 150,000 muscle units, allowing for dexterity and strength without bones. This organ serves multiple functions, including breathing, smelling, and touching. Elephants mostly breathe through their trunks, using it as an “olfactory periscope” to detect scents.
The trunk is also used for communication within elephant herds, including trumpeting sounds, gentle caresses, and self-soothing behaviors. It manipulates objects with both power and precision. Elephants can use their trunks to lift heavy items, such as 270 kilograms, or perform intricate tasks like picking up a single coin or cracking open a peanut. The trunk itself does not contain teeth or a tongue and is not used for chewing.
How Elephants Eat and Drink
Elephants employ a coordinated effort between their trunk and mouth for eating and drinking. For foraging, the trunk grasps vegetation, strips leaves from branches, or pulls grass from the ground. The trunk then precisely brings the collected food to the mouth. Once inside the mouth, the powerful molars grind the plant material, while the tongue assists in positioning the food for effective chewing and swallowing.
When drinking, elephants do not use their trunks like straws to directly ingest water. Instead, they suck large volumes of water into their trunks, which can hold between 5.5 to 10 liters. The elephant then curls its trunk towards its mouth and squirts the water into the oral cavity for swallowing. Young elephants, however, initially drink directly with their mouths until they develop the coordination and skill to use their trunks for drinking. This process highlights the symbiotic relationship between the trunk and mouth.