The Evolution of Modern Elephants 

It never ceases to amaze me that every modern mammal (including us) can be traced back to a tiny shrew-like ancestor.

would love to see one about Flying Fish... where they come from, where they could be headed?

DNA sequence all the elephants, we might need a backup.

Please make a video on completely different animals who are called buffaloes, like river buffaloes, swamp buffaloes, Asian wild buffalo, Cape buffaloes, African jungle buffaloes and Bisons. The name creates a lot of confusion.

fantastic video. it's a shame that these amazing animals continue to be poached in such large numbers.

I'd love to see an alien's reaction to seeing an elephant. Would they be stepping back going, "That. Is. Very. Large." [Distant trumpeting sounds] "And loud. Very loud"? Or would they just be like, "Oh, that's just like the tartafen back home"?

Mammoths and elephants have the most specialized grinding molars of any mammal ever. Rhino, Paraceratherium and mastodon had great molars for grinding but not quite as advanced. With that said, several ornithischian dinosaurs had more advanced teeth then these mammals. Ornithopod tooth batteries are the most advanced grinding teeth in history. Structurally they have the same solid grinding platform as mammoth/elephant molars but they continually grow and they do so vertically, while elephant/mammoths have to replace their molars with new molars that grow on the posterior or interior section of the molars, and they have to push out the worn out molar, which is painful for the animal, can lead to infection, and on top of that they only grow 6 sets of molars in their lifetime, when the last run out, well, that is the #1 killer of elephants/mammoths. They starve when the last molars are worn out. Ornithopods grow thousands of teeth, they stack on top of each other.

Can you please do The Evolution of Suidae. Cant find any decent videos on youtube.

I don't know much about biology or relative sciences, but I think this video should be named "taxonomy / classification of elephants species" rather than "evolution of elephants". I was hoping to see the evolutionary history of them, the creatures that preceeded them and stuff. But as I said, I'm no expert.

If both humans and elephants share an "out of Africa" genetic story, I wonder what, if any, temporal overlap exists in their migration out of Africa? If both species migrated out of Africa at the same time, I wonder if anyone has explored a connection?

It’s funny how the word mammoth is used for large things while there’s a dwarf mammoth

Evolution of moss please, probably an entire series on its own =) Gotta love elephants, such glorious and noble creatures, so dramatic and domineering while being vulnerable simultaneously!

Other dinosaur channels: animals Ben g Thomas: ORGANISM

My favorite animals since I were a wee lad!

Its sad that we barely have any mega fauna left in the world

How come you dont have a patreon? I really want to support this amazing work you are doing

I just realised how uncannily human elephants would look like without their large trunks

This is interesting hearing the evolutionary history of these iconic creatures. You gotta do more videos like this, Ben.

Maybe we can bring back the mammoth soon enough so we can have another Elephant species

They do have very weird skulls though tbh

Dude a dwarf mammoth ugh that’d be so awesome and cute to see!

Great video Ben! I would like to request that for your next evolution video could you do the wolf or the dogs evolutionnext! I also want to say you are so close to 100k! That rhymes lol

I've always loved elephants ever since I was a small child. Thank you for this

Its despicable that poaching is a thing >_< Fascinating to see how complex elephant evolution is

Gets big so needs 4 legs, but then want to evolve hands. Do you... A: Evolve bipedalism, freeing up your front limbs. B: Just make do with the mouth. Or C: From your shnoz evolve an entirely new limb... because evolution does whatever it wants.

When an animal with giant ears, teeth on the outside, and a nose that acts as a arm is more realistic than a horse with a horn

Great video! I love that you go over the subspecies and bring awareness to the forest elephant. I usually don't promote myself but I made a similar video taking a broader look at the evolution/diversification from the first tiny proboscidians to the elephants that remain today. It's interesting how many routes evolution can take and how only a select few survive.

Evolution of the ant would be pretty interesting

When I went to school we were told there were just two species of elephant, Indian and African. I have learned so much more watching this video. Keep up your studies and I want to see you give a lecture behind that famous desk at The Royal Institution. We can all wait a little longer for the videos.

*Elephant maximus MAXIMUS*

Could there be an African/Asian Elephant hybrid?

Thanks! School comes first! Will be happy whatever you do!

Such a beautifully mysterious creature.

Another difference between Asian and African elephants is the shape of the back. Asian elephants have a convex back that looks like an arch between the shoulders and the hips, with the top of the arch being higher than shoulder or hip height. African elephants have a concave back arch, that dips in the middle like that of a sway back horse. The shoulders and hips are higher than the middle of the back.

Very educational, I completely agree that more needs to be done to protect these magnificent animals, and their habitat, thank you for all your work identifying the evolutionary heritage of elephants...

I once saw a video of an elephant who took someone's hat

Really excellent review! Good luck with your exams.

You guys can do it! You got those exams! I believe in you!

Palaeoloxodon namadicus polemic (about being the biggest elephant and mammal to ever exist) avoided.

the anthropogenic extinction of the most charismatic megafauna is a fucking travesty. mammoths, straight-tusked elephants, and mastodons all owe much of their extinction to human pressures. so so many large-bodied mammal species went extinct around the end of the pleistocene.

Beautiful informative video. Thanks for the continuing effort, even during your exam period. That you all may excel on your exams. Good luck!

Amazing video Ben! Elephants have always been my most favorite animal and you did a great job discussing the various species/subspecies we have today. It's a real shame, though, for what's happening to the African Forest Elephants. I just hope we'll be able to stop poaching and preserve this species for many years to come.

Dammit, now I want a video on the Hyrax.

Good luck with yo' exams!

love the channel and I appreciate the work that goes into it. thanks for teaching me stuff.

I sometimes hear about extinct species of recent elephants like the Atlas Elephant, Syrian Elephant and North African Elephant that are often talked about in the ancient world (Most often their use in warfare). What are peoples thoughts on them.

great video. many things i didnt know before. keep on uploading!

Elephants are so awesome. When I was a baby, they were my favorite animal. I had a tiny, plastic, chewed-up elephant toy that I called "Baby Ent" cause I didn't know how to say elephant.

Those Borneo Elephants are crazy interesting. Either introduced in the 18th century...or 30k years ago. It amazes me that we can be wso uncertain of an event that could have happened so recently.

THEY MADE THEIR NOSE INTO AN ARM!!!?? What even is evolution?!

🌎🌍🌏 🐘 Ok, I have serious questions about elephants. Do we know exactly what type of elephant Motty was? Can you do a video on which elephants could theoretically cross with one another? How are African countries trying to conserve unique habitats? What are the punishments for poaching endangered species like elephants? Honestly I think decapitation would be a fair punishment for poaching. You take their life and we take yours. But what do I know? I’m just an environmentalist.

"I like elephants and god likes elephants" - Terry A. Davis

Good luck with your exams.

Interesting how African and Asian elephants diverged at about the same time Humans & Chimp/Bonobos diverged. There's as much difference between African and Asian elephant species as yhere is between us and chimps.

Wonderful! Elephants are fascinating 😃

Finally addressed "the elephant in the room"

Poaching needs to be eliminated. Elephants will not be on earth by 2025 if it keeps like this. If people who cared about this majestic creatures had voice power, man the world would be a better place. Power by the government is allowing this to happen

We can clone Mammoths.

They like em big. They like em trunky.

Can you make a video without bashing humans and nonstop habitat destruction. We know we know. I'm here to learn about animals NOT to hear constant human bashing. Go make a video about how bad people are so I can NOT watch it.

I’d love to see the platypus or any other monotreme

i'm so glad humans specialize and we can have people like you making these videos. also what is this subject? is it biology or what

Best of luck and success with your exams! Love the channel, you have such a nice storytelling... You are really good at science communication - maybe an idea for a future career ;)

Good luck on your exams!

That baby elephant four mins in made me smash that like button

The elephants must go on

I have seen Elephants in Chitwan, Nepal 🇳🇵.

Watching this in 2022 and it’s actually nice to see that the icun red list sees these animals as separate species :)

We need to change the economy there so money made by poaching isn't worth it.

No other video has ever made me want a dog-sized elephant as much as this one

i know so much more about elephants. You sir are a treasure!!!

I love the way you pronounce "elephant", oh my god!

I knew the elephant shrews are elephant cousins, but aardvarks caught me off guard.

Good luck with the exams guys!

Amazing video! I'm a big fan. Please continue.

I saw the title and im like "sure, why not"

It's impressive that you talk about origins and evolution of animals like elephants about several million years ago,awesome. Thx

all of the surviving species can cross-breed, right?

The Video Of The Evolution Of Modern Elephants Is Cool.

I'd like to know the evolution of the komodo, might be interesting

Hey Elephant I gotta go to the can man.

They are also present in Bangladesh, why didn't you mention it in the video.

All the best for your upcoming exams!!

Here’s an interesting idea. You know how mantas can recognize themselves in a mirror, or how their relatives, mobula rays, leap out of the water? What kind of paths could these lead to?

Would it be fair to mention poaching and tusk size?

Elephants are a lot weirder than people think. Seriously.

Why the hell is ivory trading still a thing? Who the hell is buying them?

greatest animal of all time

I appreciate anything you guys put out, so good luck on your exams and thanks for the heads up. I never realized how many different types of Elephants there are. Thanks.

AKA history of the entire elephant i guess

Remember those two lions who attack the poachers? I wish that would happen more often.

IUCN: "Dammit people, one type of elephant should be enough for you!"

Dwarf Mammoth? Okay, I think that wins as the most ridiculously named creature I've ever heard of. Except for perhaps maybe Han Solo. Not the character, the Trilobite. (Google it if you're confused)

Good luck with your exams!

“There’s two types of elephants African elephants and” BRIGHTBurn now in theaters That scared me so much

'The Gene's between Bush elephants and forest elephants are quite different ' in what way? Can you be more specific

Could you do a part two where you would showcase other members of the Proboscedia family?

Deforestation & poaching yes, but in other areas, even the Kalahari desert Elephant populations that are not being poached are increasing. Nice photos, but wish you could refrain from the climate change propaganda.

Good luck on your exams

I did some research and got mixed results as to the possibility of interbreeding between the African and Indian elephant. This video shows elephants are much more diverse and interesting than I ever suspected. Thanks Ben G.!