Why The Elephant Is The Smartest Animal On The Planet

Why Elephant Is The Smartest Animal On The Planet

Elephants are the world’s largest land animals and, despite their seeming bulk, they have surprising agility. They live in family units of about ten animals, led by the oldest female, or matriarch, who serves as the group’s leader and protector. Elephants are classified in the Order Proboscidea of the Superfamily Elephantioidea and the Family Elephantidae. Elephants come in three different species, two of which are found in Africa and one in Asia. Due to habitat loss and poaching, all three species are at risk of going extinct.

Weighing in at a whopping 5.5 kilograms, the elephant’s brain is larger than that of any other land animal. But size isn’t everything – what really sets the elephant’s brain apart is its complexity. For example, elephants have more neurons in their cerebral cortex – the area of the brain responsible for higher-order thinking – than any other mammal. This allows them to perform complex tasks and remember vast amounts of information.

An elephant never forgets. This saying is based on truth because an elephant has an excellent memory. They can remember everything from the time they are born until they die. According to researchers, elephants have a memory retention span of around 20 years. That means they can remember things that happened to them when they were calves for their entire lives!